In South Africa, branded content is in its infancy. In fact, what generally passes for branded content is more akin to old-fashioned sponsorship and clumsy, obvious product placement. In addition, the content is low on creative ideas and strategy.A further important point is that, unlike in the USA, competitive and comparative advertising in any form is not permitted. Since our idea was all about comparing and contrasting, we got around these regulations by implementing a creative campaign that utilised the unique attributes of a global video platform – YouTube.

Our client was a non-profit organization, so we needed a smart, low-cost solution to maximize the reach of our awareness and call-to-sign message.Our idea was to ‘piggyback’ on other people’s viral YouTube videos, turning their highly frivolous and sought-after content into our medium (and a major part of our message).We called it "YouTube Interventions" – over 60 trending and classic viral videos that we downloaded, remixed with a surprise message, then re-uploaded with the same titles and tags as the originals.

Like a Trojan Horse, our media strategy confronted those who were actively searching for silly videos, catching them “red handed” and convincing them that their time was more valuable than they realized.

It was all about contrasting the frivolous nature of the medium with the serious nature of the rhino’s situation.

The campaign was viewed by over 30, 000 people on YouTube and over 11,000 Facebook 'likes' were gained (a good indication of people’s engagement with the idea). With no other communication out there, rather than the expected 20% increase, signatures on the anti-poaching petition increased by almost 400%, from all across the globe - enough, according to Andrew Muir, the CEO of Forever Wild, to present a strong and vigorous case to the United States Congress later in 2012.

And all this with $0 spent on either media or production.