Within the framework of a new International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, increasingly attended by a growing number of associations, brands, and creators, often distinguished by significant firepower in terms of budget or audience, the challenge for ActionAid was to demonstrate relevance and distinctiveness once again in the political, social, and cultural debate, despite a limited communication budget.

In this context, ActionAid had to confirm its ability to offer a concrete contribution and to exercise its fundamental mission: to promote the right to a life free from violence. The primary objective was to exert political pressure to initiate a dialogue with institutions and obtain concrete responses regarding the prevention of gender-based violence. But also to generate awareness on a topic of great social relevance, reaffirming ActionAid's positioning and sensitizing people to the importance of violence prevention and eliciting both an intellectual and emotional response.

The insight presented us with impressive yet complex information, regarding the progressive decrease in funds, and therefore in actions, for the prevention of violence. To ensure the message reached as many people as possible, we had to change our perspective on it. We transformed numbers and data into percentages, revealing them at a time when percentages capture everyone's attention: Black Friday.

Because the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was celebrated on Saturday, November 25th. Just the day after Black Friday, when all of Italy, indeed the whole world, is hunting for discounts.

This was the perfect time to expose the one that had gone unnoticed so far but deserved national attention. And so "Black Freeday” was born. To denounce the discount made by the government on funds to prevent gender-based violence, which forces women, and the whole society, to pay an increasingly high price.

The campaign aimed to address three different target audiences: political and institutional stakeholders, the Press, and the general public aged 18-65 (both male and female). As it was a collective social and cultural awareness campaign, our goal was to reach as diverse, differentiated, and cross-cutting an audience as possible. All three represent ActionAid's usual audience.

Since our primary objectives were to carry out political pressure to initiate a dialogue with institutions and obtain concrete responses and to generate awareness by reaffirming ActionAid's positioning. Our approach was to create a strong and ambivalent name capable of revealing the true nature of the "discounts", also, we positioned ourselves in the shopping areas, the nerve center of Black Friday shopping activity. From there, through media PR activities and DOOH, we were able to make our voice heard by politicians and the public.

“Black Freeday” was launched on November 13 with the unveiling of a large digital billboard on Via del Corso in Rome, the capital's bustling shopping district close to the heart of Italian politics. The unveiling was attended by press and passersby and led by the campaign's ambassador, actress and activist Claudia Gerini, and ActionAid's vice president, while the event was livestreamed on socials. On the same day, the campaign's landing page was launched as the central hub for all touchpoints, along with ActionAid's "Below-cost Prevention" report.

On November 15 the film starring Claudia Gerini was released first on ActionAid's socials, then on some TV and cinemas who joined the initiative at our invitation. At the same time, the press campaign took place, as well as a digital campaign to intercept users with relevant messages during Black Friday shopping, while a social media plan provided in-depth content and information.

On December 22, just weeks after the campaign, a new Budget Law was approved: the largest commitment established by Italian politics to prevent and combat male violence against women. An additional 43.5 million euros are allocated for funding anti-violence policies, as well as 91.8 million euros for the two years to follow.

Italy has never invested so much in prevention of gender-based violence, nor talked so much.

323 national and international media outlets covered the campaign on print, digital, TV and radio: while ActionAid celebrates the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women annually, rarely has the campaign achieved the social and political resonance of Black Freeday.

We also believe it has been a valuable aid in shifting the perspective on this crucial day. Instead of focusing on victims, emphasizing a country's willingness to take steps so that there are fewer and fewer victims in the first place.