Oftentimes, stories made for the Black community are depicted in a one-dimensional or stereotypical way. But if we’re being radically transparent there are a lot of feelings, nuanced emotions, and ups-and-downs that come with every accomplishment and endeavor. Especially for the Black community.
In early 2022, Facebook launched its Black Community Program, as a part of its Underrepresented Community strategy to transition from tentpole marketing campaigns to an always-on approach. The goal was to extend our celebration of the Black community beyond Black History Month in February. We know that engaging Black YAs through the blended spectrum of their identity is key to connecting with them meaningfully. In order to effectively do so, we directed our focus on the journeys of self discovery that lead Black YAs to fully get to know their intersectional identities based on interests, passions and values - their “whole self,” because there’s no one way to be Black.
Blackness is a multidimensional identity defined only by Black people themselves, and through our ‘My Black Feels’ creative wrapper, we are reminded that there are no limits to what Black can feel, look, or sound like. We ultimately want to inspire people to not only celebrate, but also care for the Black community using a new lens that reflects our feelings.
The aim of the ‘My Black Feels’ campaign was to show the Black community’s spectrum of emotion and connection by giving the mic to them. By giving Facebook Groups and creators a voice in shaping social programs and video content, we were able to amplify how they feel and give them a platform to share their voices.
Instead of telling the typical accomplishment or personal endeavor story, we decided to get radically transparent. We highlighted a cross-section of Black community members following their passions (small business owners, social justice advocates, working moms, etc) but instead of focusing on just the surface story, we lifted the curtain and discussed all the feelings they experienced along the way — the ups, the downs, feeling lonely, defeated, bigger than life, and beyond. These stories offer true insight into the Black experience and awareness that there are Facebook Groups out there to support and inspire you through the journey.
The campaign was successful in achieving our strategic objective of increasing perceived brand value and driving home our message that Facebook Groups is a supportive place to foster and grow community.
Our sentiment reports also showed that audiences resonated with the unique stories from our community members and with our mission to provide supportive spaces for Black communities.
Highlights across 3 video and 3 static assets:
- 128M impressions
- 33M unique reach
- 3 Facebook Groups highlighted
