Planned Parenthood exists to create a world in which your body is truly your own. Where no one is held back by their bodies. Where high-quality health care is accessible for all. And where everyone can claim their fullest potential.
We’re all too familiar with the realities of life for many of our patients, supporters, and staff. They face a constant stream of misinformation amid an ongoing global pandemic. They care about many important social issues, like climate change, education, and racial justice, but find it hard to prioritize where they should focus their efforts to get ahead. Their sexual and reproductive health can feel separate from other urgent fights. And for Black and Brown folks within these audiences, systemic barriers and continual mistreatment by health care professionals have limited their options and access to care, rightfully leading to mistrust of those in the health care system.
We knew it was the moment to be clear about our mission — to introduce audiences to Planned Parenthood through our values, and how our values come to life. In April 2021 we launched Be Seen, a brand mission campaign which aims to send send Black and Latinx young adults a clear message:
"We see you — the whole you — no matter who you are, how you identify, or where you come from. We're proud to help you live fully, come into your own, and become all you can and will be.”
Our strategy with Be Seen came from a key insight: when care for our bodies is limited, so is our potential. Access to high-quality health care, including sexual and reproductive care, is essential for us to become who we can be as individuals and a society. We wanted to ignite support for Planned Parenthood with a new generation by showing them that each body is more than just a body. It’s a foundation for all of our future possibilities. When you are truly seen, when you have full control over your decisions and your body, you can create the world you want to see. Planned Parenthood exists to help you do just that.
We launched our campaign with a hero video that followed the lives of four inspiring young people, as they move through life with confidence and joy. Strategic partnerships and varied tactics were crucial to distributing the video. These tactics included:
The creation of a dedicated hotline (1-888-BE SEEN1) to collect voicemails from our communities offering support to others in their community
Partnerships with Instagram influencers for the April launch and activations with TikTok influencers to connect the importance of being seen with the celebration of Pride Month
Collaborations with artists Rebecca Black, Big Freedia, and Paulina Rubio to create audio spots and drive visits to our hotline; and with Lynn Whitfield to voice our hero spot
Press partnerships with Essence, The Skimm, MTVNews, BeLatina, and more (see supporting materials)
Engagement with podcast hosts which encouraged their listeners to see one another
Repurposed user generated content from our voicemail hotline to create social media graphics and videos
The launch video was published and promoted across Planned Parenthood’s social media channels, and reshared by a dedicated community of artists, supporerts, and partners. In order to expand and sustain engagement, the video was also cut down and remixed with real messages from the voicemail hotline.
The broader Be Seen campaign generated 237 million impressions across earned, paid, and partner efforts. Through an in-market brand survey, we saw a shift among our audience toward stronger support for Planned Parenthood based on our mission and values, specifically around inclusivity, trustworthiness, and caring about people like me.
The Be Seen launch video:
Received over 360K views
Increased traffic to the Be Seen landing page
Delivered a high click-through-rate
Encouraged 80% of regional affiliate partners to post the video to official social media channels and distribute among staff
