To make people feel connected to missing children, we proved that they actually are: in a social experiment, we confronted a variety of people from all around the country with a human chain that connects them to the same missing child. Then, we involved a number of influencers and connected them to the missing child as well.

The concept was based on ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ (Stanley Milgram, 1967 Harvard University): the idea that two complete strangers can be connected through a chain of only five people. So, a maximum of six steps separates everyone from a missing child, and also potential witnesses. This way, we used Six Degrees of Separation as a strategy to convince both emotional and rational thinkers.

By showing that literally anyone could be connected to a missing child within six steps, the campaign touched everyone.

We first did the experiment with a variety of people from all around the country. They each were confronted with a human chain that connected them to Gevriye Cavas, a boy that went missing in 1985 at the age of 5. This experiment was launched as a social video.

Then, the experiment was personalized to 6 national and international influencers. They came from various industries to get our message spread as wide as possible (sports, music, politics and media). Videos showing their connection with Gevriye were shared on the influencers’ Facebook and/or Twitter-pages. These videos started with a friend or family member that addressed the celebrity, drawing the attention of them and their followers. The video ended in a call-to-action asking them to share Child Focus’ missing children posts.

Finally, we did the experiment live with a famous soccer player. This was displayed before an important match and online.

Media output:

55 million media impressions

800k + earned media

Child Focus Facebook page:

+ 49% followers

Missing children search posts:

+ 387% shares

+ 222% engagement

+ 202% total reach

The increased number of shared posts led to immediate results. Shortly after the campaign, a message about an abducted girl reached 2 million people in only one night. She was found unusually quickly (within 48 hours) and the perpetrator was taken into custody.