Background 


Since 2004, Talita, a non-profit organization, has been helping women out of prostitution, pornography and human trafficking for sexual purposes and into a functioning life. The organization is utterly dependent on donations from the public.

Challenge


The number of monthly donors had been static for years when Talita reached out to us. Indicating that those who cared the most already donated what they could. Every now and then, there were spikes in the statistics from one-time donations but in the end, the economical resources that Talita had were not enough to help all the women in need.

In order for Talita to be able to help more women, it was clear that a broader target audience had to be reached.

The challenge however is that prostitution, generally speaking, occurs behind locked doors. Which makes it challenging for an organization like Talita to make the public understand the extent of the problem. Resulting in people turning a blind eye to the issue and hence, does not choose to donate any money.

During 2020, men who buy sex had been under the microscope in Sweden, as a famous TV host was convicted for buying sex, and several Swedish brothels were raided by the police. It was, finally, the talk of the town. The focus in the public conversation, was, however, on the convicted men in general and the TV-host in particular, while the exploited women remained silence(d).

Solution


A window of opportunity for Talita was identified; to change the direction of the public conversation and thereby be able to capitalize on it — to help more women out of the sex trade.

We did in-depth interviews with six women from four different nationalities, and condensed their lives into short, though, and heartfelt stories from the reality that often hides behind street prostitution and sex ads. 

Execution
Then, 0939-1915 was launched. The phone number, which at first seems like a regular call girl service, lets the caller choose one of several presented names. Every name offers a recording of a woman who shares some of her experiences of living in prostitution. Calling costs 1 euro/minute and all money goes to Talita.

We encouraged people to call the number by sharing it on Instagram, as well as in digital billboards and print ads. In order to cut through the noise and grab people’s attention, we ended up using a rather surprising creative approach; visual cues and a tonality associated with sex ads.

It worked. The campaign was shared over 10K times on Instagram, by ordinary people as well as celebrities, all encouraging others to call the numer. Thousands of calls were made. The total donations increased by SEK 2 million (approx. £170 000) and the income from monthly donors increased by 62% (February -May 2021 compared with the same period in 2020). In the end, it led to that Talita was able to help more women out of prostitution.