Without access to traditional support networks. LGBTQ plus youth rely on connection –– be it via texting video calls or social media for support and to affirm their sexual orientation.
Partnering with ATTN:, AT&T created a campaign to encourage positive conversation and raise awareness ––The Love Connection. The Love Connection is a raw documentary series that went beyond representation, it gave non-binary transgender and gender nonconforming people a platform to share their true journeys in depth. Each episode also included call outs to The Trevor Project, a charity aimed at suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ youth, to highlight AT&T’s allyship to the community. Additionally, AT&T committed $750,000 to further their support for The Trevor Project.
It was important to us to find diverse voices and experiences within the LGBTQ plus community. We focussed on five different voices each making up an episode –– Peppermint, a trans woman who tells us her story of finding love and the stigma that her partners have experienced and ultimately the community around her that supports her; Laith, a trans man who tells us about being outted, his struggle with his family and ultimately their support; Alok, a gender non-conforming writer and performance artist and their experience with harassment and finding the people that support them; Aydian, a transgender activist, father, and husband and his experience meeting his wife, having his son and finding love; and Isis King, a trans actress and model who’s journey brought her from the shelter to America’s Next Top Model. She tells her story of meeting her best friend Cory who loves her no matter what. They each told their unique coming out stories and how being able to connect with others through technology had eased their respective journey.
The videos encouraged positive conversation, understanding and raised awareness. Yet a challenge was that we needed to ensure the space we told these impactful stories would be safe, so we employed strategic social media moderation tactics. We monitored comments closely and updated filters constantly to protect the community from any backlash and hate comments and instead encouraged positive conversations to empower the community.
The Love Connection proved to viewers that AT&T is a brand of integrity, which provides active allyship to the LGBTQ plus community. Viewers associated the company with an upholding of tolerance and acceptance of all people, no matter their identity or personal preferences.
More importantly, the message of The Trevor Project was spread wide, reaching vulnerable LGBTQ plus youth that might need to hear a similar story or someone to talk to.
The Love Connection docuseries is currently still running –– with an episode that just released a few weeks ago but these are preliminary stats.
6.9M Total Views
16.8M Total Impressions
378K Total Engagements
Average engagement rate for the campaign on Instagram is at 5.9%; out-performing ATTN: branded benchmark by 4x
Average engagement rate for the campaign on Facebook is at 7.0%; out-performing ATTN: branded benchmark by 1.4x
