Toilet Talks

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AVA Digital Awards: Digital Marketing | Social Campaign

Toilet Talks Everyone needs a safe place to go to the loo. Unfortunately, billions of people today lack access to adequate sanitation. Held each year on November 19, World Toilet Day rallies people around the globe on the need for sanitation for all. This year’s World Toiled Day provided a unique opportunity for GMMB and PATH’s Defeat Diarrheal Disease (DefeatDD) Initiative to spark awareness about the burden of childhood diarrheal disease and expand much needed conversations on sanitation.

What’s a Toilet Talk? Think TED Talks. But shorter. Roughly a minute. And in a bathroom, or near an outdoor toilet. The stall’s the limit. Your video can be humorous, serious or somewhere in-between, but we would like you to end it with a “but seriously” moment about the impact of diarrheal disease on children and the lack of access to proper sanitation. These talks should be shared and engaged with on Facebook and Twitter.

Diarrheal disease is the second-leading cause of death in young children around the world and a top cause of illness. No child should die from diarrhea or suffer its lasting consequences, like cognitive and physical stunting. Repeat illnesses in children contribute to a vicious cycle of malnutrition and infections, causing irreversible damage. The burden extends to entire families and communities. Here’s the thing: diarrheal disease is preventable and treatable. What we need are conversations to spark action. Why Toilet Talks?

Simply put, to help to make a stink about diarrheal disease and the importance of safe sanitation. Diarrheal disease isn’t the easiest topic to discuss—it’s taboo. And if people don’t want to talk about it, how can they mobilize to act? DefeatDD’s mission is to reframe the dialogue around diarrheal disease, and encourage new audiences to take action. Together, we put diarrhea and sanitation in the spotlight on World Toilet Day 2017 and achieved our objectives by:  Sparking interactive dialogue on social media  Bringing more voices to the conversation  Raising awareness of diarrheal disease and the need for adequate sanitation

How did we do it? While the global health community is passionate about fighting diarrheal disease, we knew that getting people to talk about diarrhea and toilets would not be easy, especially from a toilet. So, we used a bit of humor and a lot of persistence, providing the necessary resources and support to encourage others to join the conversation and film their own Toilet Talk. More specifically, we: •

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Identified and conducted outreach to leaders, influencers, and celebrities to invite and encourage them to participate in the campaign Scripted and produced an introductory Toilet Talk video to serve as an example for others on how they could “break the poo taboo” and join the campaign Created a comprehensive 9-page How-to Guide for participants, complete with background information on the campaign, talking points and tips for filming and sharing Developed a Toilet Talks Go-Kit, including a 10 x 8-foot quick screen, bubble quotes, emoji sticks, “I talk sh+t” stickers, and costumes to leverage DefeatDD’s presence at key conferences and keep the conversation going beyond World Toilet Day Provided guidance on messaging and production support to participants/Toilet Talks

Our results? Toilet Talks received tens of thousands of views and went a long way toward raising awareness of diarrheal disease. Highlights include: Life-size “quick screen” from the Go-Kit  Influencers like Chelsea Clinton, Clinton Foundation and Seth Berkley of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance engaged with the campaign  Celebrities including Matt Damon and Kelly Rutherford extended the reach to more than 1.5 million people  Videos averaged 4,000 views each, and some exceeded 36,000  More than 75 thought leaders and influencers from 30+ organizations across the health and development sectors were engaged, representing dozens of countries around the world  30 user- and partner-generated videos were added to the campaign

 Toilet Talk participants included leaders from PATH, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Water.org, World Vision, John Hopkins University, Global Impact, 1,000 Days, icddrb, PSI, Save the Children, and Sesame Street, among others Our Team: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Angy Peterson Alexis Glears Ben Hawkins Brianne Johnson Butch Ramsey Christian Meany Gayatri Surendranathan Debbie Ashpes Hanad Ali Issa Chan Jen Farber Jeff Grutkowski Jen Strickland Jennifer Beser Jordan Herring

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Jordan Treible Joe Gladow Kaia Lenhart Kenzie Phillips Kibi Irving Kwesi Agyeman Maggie Reger Manny Fleurival Mikaela Ferrill Molly O’Brien Nima Alagha Raymond Gotha Serrin Ranson Stephen Wilkes Trudi Benford