• SUB CATEGORY :
    MAILING
  • ENTRANT COMPANY :
    IMPACT BBDO, DUBAI
  • TITLE :
    CHILD WEDDING CARDS
  • BRAND :
    UN WOMEN
  • ADVERTISER :
    UN WOMEN
  • AGENCY :
    IMPACT BBDO, DUBAI
  • CHAIRMAN :
    DANI RICHA
  • CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER :
    ALI REZ
  • EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR :
    MARIE CLAIRE MAALOUF
  • CREATIVE DIRECTOR :
    RANA SADEK
  • ART DIRECTOR :
    HASSAAN AAAB/JITHESH NARAYANAN
  • COPYWRITER :
    AUNINDO SEN/ARCHNA SINGH/TAMARA PINTO
  • DESIGNER :
    ATIF PASHA
  • ACCOUNT DIRECTOR :
    ASFANDYAR KHAN/RAWIDA SAADE
  • OTHER CREATIVE CREDITS :
    OSAMA SIDDIQ/MOIZ KHAN
  • FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY :
    SHINY TOY GUNS, KARACHI
  • DIRECTOR :
    ASMA HUMAYUN
  • DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY :
    KOHI MARRI
  • OTHER FILM PRODUCTION CREDITS :
    SHOAIB AHMED
  • CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :
    According to UNICEF, Pakistan has nearly 19 million child brides - around 4.6million estimated to have married before the age of 15. Across Pakistan, civil society has been at the forefront of fighting to end child marriage, pushing for tougher laws and working closely with communities, authorities and religious groups to change attitudes. To motivate lawmakers to pass a bill protecting children from child marriage, UN Women chose to target leaders with a direct mail campaign. Members of the National Assembly of Pakistan received an invitation to a fictional child's wedding - through a wedding card that would suit a child's wedding, designed entirely by children. We invited dozens of young girls, ranging in age from 5 to 15, from all socioeconomic backgrounds, and allowed them to freely draw and sketch. One of the girls that contributed was an actual child bride. We succeeded in reaching our target audience, receiving an almost immediate response from Parliamentarians, who chose to give statements holding the wedding cards, and asking other lawmakers to join them in the fight against child marriage. Dozens of lawmakers joined our cause. In an actual parliamentary session at the National Assembly, leaders held up the Child Wedding Cards to demand a law be put into place to raise the minimum marriageable age to 18. The lawmakers' efforts combined to raise conversation on the topic of child marriage in society and on air. The Federal Islamic court, the highest religious court in the country which activates common law, announced a landmark edict that 18 is applicable as the minimum age for marriage in Islam.
  • CREATIVITY/IDEA/INSIGHT :
    To motivate lawmakers to pass a bill protecting children from child marriage, UN Women chose to target leaders with a direct mail campaign.
    Members of the National Assembly of Pakistan received an invitation to a fictional child's wedding.
    Through a wedding card that would suit a child's wedding, designed entirely by children.
  • STRATEGY :
    Rather than release a typical awareness campaign that would not generate much impact, we strategized that our most effective way to help change the law would be to reach lawmakers directly, one-on-one, and to send them a personal motivational device. We had to find a new mechanism to reach them, and our strategic insight was based around one particular cultural facet in Pakistan: the personal delivery of printed wedding cards inviting
    guests- the printed wedding card is so important even now that it is considered offensive to not receive one as an invite. Millions of colorful cards are printed every year that are delivered by hand or mail to guests. We chose to follow a similar practise. The wedding, however, was that of a child bride. And so, of course, the invitation needed to reflect the same.
  • EXECUTION & CRAFT :
    We invited dozens of young girls, ranging in age from 5 to 15, from all socio-economic backgrounds, and allowed them to freely draw and sketch. One of the girls that contributed was an actual child bride. We then took a number of the designs and sketches and combined them to form six chosen wedding cards, each reflecting a different area of the country, across all five provinces. These were then dispatched directly to Members of the National Assembly, and other leaders and inuencers in the country. A short film explaining the idea accompanied with social posts was also launched.
  • RESULT :
    We succeeded in reaching our target audience, receiving an almost immediate response from Members of Parliament, who chose to give statements holding the wedding cards, and asking other lawmakers to join them in the fight against child marriage. Dozens of lawmakers joined our cause. In an actual parliamentary session at the National Assembly of Pakistan, leaders held up the Child Wedding Cards to demand a law be put into place to raise the minimum marriageable age to 18.
    The lawmakers efforts combined to raise conversation on the topic of child marriage in society and on air. The Federal Islamic court, the highest religious court in the country which activates common law, announced a landmark edict that 18 is applicable as the minimum age for marriage in Islam.