Collaborating to Inspire Global Change
Global Citizen is building a movement to end extreme poverty by 2030. Through Google's Global Lighthouse Partnership, PMG was one of 10 agencies selected to show how storytelling can turn attention into action, starting with the "Wishful Thinking" campaign for equity and justice in America.
With Alli, the team built audiences from what Americans were actually searching for and watching, then used YouTube Video Action and Discovery campaigns to move people from viewing to signing up. Ask Alli let planners follow live performance and shift budget toward the audiences driving the most sign-ups.
The campaign drove 34,000 incremental sign-ups, 220% above average, and became Global Citizen's most successful digital acquisition campaign of the year.
As part of the Global Lighthouse Partnership, Google and Global Citizen invited PMG to join 10 of the world's top agencies selected to harness Google's platforms to inspire people to join a movement for a better world and end extreme poverty by 2030. PMG was among the first media agency partners ever selected for Google's annual initiative, to demonstrate the power of storytelling to drive action.
Digital Strategy for Social Impact
We worked in close partnership from briefing to execution with creative agency Alma for the "Wishful Thinking" campaign, to promote equity and justice for all Americans. Our team was responsible for digital media strategy and execution, collaborating with Alma to promote a minute-long documentary-style video ad highlighting vignettes of everyday people working and living under difficult conditions. The campaign portrayed how inequality, poverty, and unique obstacles have impacted Americans' ability to live safely in a COVID-19 world.
To find the Americans most likely to act on the film, not just watch it, the team turned to Alli, PMG's operating system. Alli Audience Planner built personas of Americans already engaged with social justice, equity, and civic action, which showed the team where the documentary-style film would reach people ready to sign up, not just scroll past.
Targeting Audiences With Purpose and Precision
Our team used inclusive marketing best practices from the ground up, guided by Google's "All In: Inclusive Marketing Toolkit" to develop a media plan to reach Americans of all backgrounds, including Spanish-speaking Americans.
We identified target audiences based on search behavior and used that to expand reach while engaging widespread support and coverage. For example, we built audiences by targeting queries around social justice, BLM, and volunteer opportunities, by looking at affinities such as public transit users and avid news consumers, and by gleaning intent based on interests in areas like the National LGBTQ Task Force, World Citizenship, National Urban League, and social giving. Together, these efforts gave us the ability to drive engagement within an environment less crowded by other philanthropic organizations. Core to the effort were YouTube Video Action campaigns and Discovery Ads, which were refined to reach Americans and mobilize them to sign up and take action.
In Alli, the team could line up YouTube Video Action and Discovery Ads results against every other targeting layer. That showed which search behaviors, affinities, and interest signals were producing the most engagement. Planners put their questions to Ask Alli in plain English while the campaign ran, and moved investment toward the audiences and messages bringing in the most sign-ups.
Data-Driven Creativity With Real Results
34k Incremental sign-ups 55% Longer average video view times 1MM+ Views on YouTube
The campaign successfully increased brand awareness and search lift for Global Citizen, and drove over 34,000 incremental sign-ups, 220% higher than average signups, and Global Citizen's most successful digital acquisition campaign in the past year. Compared to campaigns managed by other agencies within the program, our team's ability to find the right audience with the right message was reflected in 2.6x more impressions and 55% longer average view times.
Alli Brand Equity tied brand and business signals together in real time, giving the team continuous visibility into how the campaign was moving both awareness and civic action outcomes. The campaign was featured globally throughout 2021 at Cannes Lions, the Global Citizen Festival, the G20 Summit in Rome, Advertising Week, and the 2021 Global Citizen Prize Awards, and was featured as a hallmark example of data-driven creativity and agency collaboration.
