Child Focus is the Belgian Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children. It supports victims and spreads information about missing children by publishing their pictures and descriptions online, in newspapers, magazines, on posters etc.

In the run-up to the International Day of Missing Children, Child Focus wanted people to share more search messages on social media: the fastest way to reach witnesses.

Unfortunately, these posts aren’t being shared enough and potential witnesses do not get to see them. When asked, “It never happens in my neighbourhood” and “I don’t know these families” are recurring reasons for people not to share. They don’t feel involved enough.

In terms of awareness, the campaign message had to reach out to the entire Belgian population, because everyone can help in finding missing children. With regards to activation, we focussed on online audiences, as modern social networks are the fastest way for real-time information sharing.

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 directly addressed a number of influencers and personally 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.

The target audience was the entire Belgian population, because everyone can help in finding missing children. With regards to activation, we focussed on online audiences, as modern social networks are the fastest way for real-time information sharing.

Data shows that the more missing children posts are shared, the more testimonies are received. And that involvement is a crucial factor when it comes to sharing content on social channels. Unfortunately, 48% of the people do not feel personally involved with missing children (Insites consulting report, 2017). Child Focus often hears reasons like “It’s happening far away from me”.

By using Six Degrees of Separation, we conducted a social experiment that could be applied to anyone, including influencers. So, without them knowing, we personally connected them to a missing child within six steps. They got the message on Twitter through a personal video, asking them to share Child Focus’s missing children posts.

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 directly 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.