#ShareYourEars
From February through March of 2016, The Walt Disney Company and the Make-A-Wish Foundation collaborated on a campaign to raise awareness and money to help bring to life the dreams of ill children. What began as a movement to reach a goal of 100 000 hashtag uses became a global success, all while using social media to attract fans worldwide.
The process was simple and attractive to anyone who is either a fan of Disney (let’s be real, we all are…) or simply wanted to help fulfill the dream of a sick child (again, tugging at the emotional heartstrings). Social media users were asked to share a photo of themselves wearing the famous Mickey ears using the hashtag #ShareYourEars. With every photo, the entertainment conglomerate would donate $5 to the non-profit organization, capping off at $1 million. There was an immediate influx of posts, with both companies’ social media accounts personally thanking users for their participation:
The campaign went viral, trended on most social media platforms, and led to over 200 000 uses of the hashtag, as well as celebrity participation. Both companies were so thrilled with the public response that Disney doubled their original pledge, donating $2 million.
As this was a campaign between two major companies, it required months of previous planning and negotiations before officially launching in February. Disney’s and Make-A-Wish’s social media accounts, in turn, blended both canned and planned content to maximize the effectiveness of the message. Canned content was communicated more at the beginning of the campaign: there was a planned timeline to launch and keep up with entries, basically a schedule of timeline posts to keep the campaign going. These initial tweets and social media posts were clearly scripted to describe the initiative and the steps to participate. Essentially, there was a goal to be met and these posts were reflective of that, with the content being generic and simple.
Post-launch, the use of planned content comes into play to complement the previous canned content. As the campaign gained traction, both social media accounts actively engaged with their audience by liking and re-tweeting/sharing photos, as well as personally thanking individual accounts for their contribution to the cause. There were no filler posts with no substance, but meaningful content with honest, playful, and generous intent. This created a personal connection in an otherwise impersonal and saturated atmosphere. It also gave a sense of authenticity, by calling out specific user accounts instead of posting a generic “thank you” for all.
If the #ShareYourEars campaign has demonstrated anything, it is that you need to manage your social media activity carefully and actually interact with those who are engaging with you. The overall strategy of the campaign was successful, showing that sometimes you need a blend of both canned and planned content to effectively reach an objective. Given the proper circumstances, such as an awareness and charity-based campaign, if you engage with the public in an authentic manner, they are more than happy to help you.
