From February 2010, women's economic development agency Chwarae Teg wanted to raise awareness of its £12m European and Welsh Assembly Government-funded project ‘Agile Nation', which addresses gender inequality in employment by training women and supporting employers to implement flexible working measures.
Chwarae Teg wanted to position itself as relevant to ordinary women and recruit potential participants. As a charitable organisation, it required a cost-effective solution that could be implemented quickly and create maximum impact.

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The team devised a campaign designed to generate interest and awareness around Agile Nation using a complementary suite of digital channels.

The social media-led campaign aimed to start an online conversation amongst women about the things that inspire them in everyday life, capture imaginations and promote Agile Nation as a project enabling women to fulfil their potential. The campaign would culminate in an event for 200 women on International Women's Day (IWD), which women not able to attend could enjoy online. The event featured inspirational speakers including athlete Tessa Sanderson OBE and CEO of Gocompare.com Hayley Parsons.

The campaign concept - ‘Womenspire' - was based on women inspiring other women and being inspired themselves, linking to motivation, achievements and self-improvement.

WWPR devised an innovative free smartphone ‘app' that allows women to access hundreds of inspirational quotes from famous women, from Marilyn Monroe to Mo Mowlam, and to post their own tales of inspiration onto the Agile Nation website at the touch of a button.
A Twitter profile, Facebook group, Linked-In group and a dedicated section of the Agile Nation website were created where women were encouraged to share inspirations. Audiences were built using research and networks, and regular content was posted to all sites to stimulate interaction.

Press coverage was generated around the launch of the ‘app' to draw people's attention to the campaign and drive them to social networking channels.

The Womenspire event was tweeted in real time with points made by speakers condensed into constantly updated rolling tweets. This resulted in a number of women tweeting positively about enjoying the speakers despite not being present. The event was filmed and videos quickly put onto YouTube/Vimeo.

Results 

Web hits to www.agilenation.co.uk doubled during March 2010, and there was a rise in enquiries to the project team. As a direct result of the campaign, Chwarae Teg's commercial director was approached to take part in a Guardian Careers live web Q&A on flexible working. Account Director Sara Robinson was also invited onto BBC One Wales' live political programme ‘Dragon's Eye' to discuss how Chwarae Teg used social media to engage with women.

Don't take our word for it... 

John Jackson, Marketing Manager, Chwarae Teg, said:

"By embracing new technology and communication channels Working Word helped us generate awareness and interest in our Agile Nation project. Also, crucially, it allowed us to start shifting perceptions of Chwarae Teg. Previously we have been perceived as highbrow and this campaign helped reposition us as an agency relevant to working women, offering practical solutions to help them achieve their potential. The accessibility of the ‘Womenspire' concept struck a chord and we are very proud of the pioneering nature of this campaign."

This campaign scooped a gold award for 'Best Use of Digital PR' in the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Cymru Wales PRide Awards. The judges said:

"What stood out for the judges was a smart combination of tactics, demonstrating an excellent understanding of digital PR techniques. It started online conversations and engagement that would not have happened through traditional offline routes, and was very cost effective. An excellent 'best practice' PR case study."