Background
There’s an enormous amount that we don’t know about the deep ocean – but we do know that it’s vital for life on Earth, and extremely vulnerable to human impacts. The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) comprises more than 100 organisations working to reduce the threats the deep sea faces, and to safeguard the long-term health and resilience of deep-sea ecosystems. Communications INC works with the DSCC as an effective in-house Comms team, to strengthen its influence, increase its campaign impact and amplify its message to the world.
Objective
The DSCC brings together a wide range of stakeholders, from NGOs to fisher organisations and law and policy institutes – and their levels of input and support vary considerably. The goal of the #DeepWeek campaign was to increase interest and engagement across the DSCC community, getting active groups more involved in its activities while showcasing the work of member organisations more broadly. It was also an opportunity to reach new audiences and increase public awareness of why the deep sea matters to all of us.
Approach and delivery
#DeepWeek was an experimental approach: we created a time-limited space to celebrate the wonders and importance of the deep, and expose the threats facing it, delivered primarily through a dedicated #DeepSeaTV channel. Much more than ‘just another webinar’, this featured a wide range of films contributed by DSCC members, along with live and pre-recorded speaker presentations and discussions, and was complemented by a bank of related content from across the community to which participants were given access – papers, factsheets, events, petitions, educational resources, etc. Communications INC produced a social media pack for members to promote #DeepSeaTV, which included social media assets, suggested social posts, Zoom backgrounds, email banners and a campaign ident. Post-broadcast, we edited all the films and presentations and made them freely available to stream in HD on YouTube to further increase the accessibility and reach of the campaign.
Impact
#DeepWeek was a clear success: it drove a 42% increase in engagement from DSCC members on social media, with a total of nearly 600,000 interactions over the five days during which it ran. It brought the community closer together, re-energised many members, and reached a wide audience. #DeepSeaTV had 350 sign-ups for the live broadcast and more than 650 total interactions. A qualitative analysis showed that almost 80% of those who engaged were from academic or CSO backgrounds. New engagement exceeded expectations, with 41% of #DeepWeek social media activity from non-members, and Twitter showing particularly high growth in followers, posts and profile performance. In the wider media, the German and Spanish press both picked up on the story, and the campaign was also discussed on UK radio.