Engagement Worthy of a Legend
A picture is worth a thousand words. The iconic imagery taken by Ernest Withers displays the hardships that African Americans had to endure during the Civil Rights period between 1950s & 60s.
With the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King fast approaching, The Ernest Withers Museum of Memphis sought to recreate the historical I AM A MAN march for a documentary.
With only seven days left until the shooting would begin and no traction on social mediums or local news, we were approached to make sure the event would be a success.
Challenge
Get people to show up as extras for the iconic I AM A MAN march to be used in a documentary – with only 7 days till shooting begins.
Outcome
Increased social media awareness by 300% and assisted in the largest re-creation of the iconic march in history.
Messaging
Social Media Campaign
Paid Media Services Press Largest Reenactment of “I AM A MAN” MEMPHIS FLYER – A City Remembers I Love Memphis – “I AM A MAN”
The Problem
The Ernest Withers Museum of Memphis pursued to recreate the iconic “I AM A MAN” protest march in April of 2018 as part of a commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. The March recreation would be photographed and filmed for a feature documentary and would require as many extras as possible to fill the streets, carry signs, shout as loud as they could, and come together as a community in celebration. With less than a week until that day, there was an overwhelming nervousness surrounding their social media strategy: people didn’t seem to be engaging.
" We’re behind schedule. We don’t have time to waste and we don’t have a lot of money left to spend. We need this and we can’t do it ourselves. "
Strategy
After a brief strategy meeting between Inari’s Social Media Strategist, Terrance Young and Withers Museum’s SMC, Anniece Robinson and Producer, Christopher Gray, most notably known for his work on various feature films such as The Core (2003), Hustle & Flow (2005) and Black Panther (2018), the project was initiated. Together they agreed interviews should be done to discover why onlookers were excited and inspired.
It was emotional. Everyone opened up and shared their experiences.
With the shoot approaching fast, a grassroots tactic was decided on to get the word out in time.
" I need relevant content to get people out here the day of. At this point, anything other than a successful event is an assault on my character and a display of incompetence. I don’t need likes. I need results. "
Social Media
Emotions influence action. Based on this simple idea, a framework was created, grassroots team formed, and ideal user profiles generated in about 20 hours.
Copy and content were created to blast out across the city. For each person that responded positively, we would in turn reach out and ask them to take part in spreading the word.
Needing to generate more traction, a video was implemented to inform and call for action.
This organic and compassionate approach created thousands of responses.
" This was a monumental success! Thanks for all you have done! "
Results
Thousands of people responded to the campaign and social engagement went up 300%. This ended up being the largest reenactment of the iconic march to date.
Hundreds showed up for the reenactment and the film shoot went off without a hitch.
Local and State news ran the story creating greater continued awareness for The Ernest Withers Museum of Memphis.