The parliament was voting to make same-sex marriage legal in Finland. Previous attempts to pass the law had failed, and again, it looked unsure. Right before the vote in fall of 2014 many MPs were still unsure of their stance. Citizens’ Initiative Tahdon2013 movement needed a new way of reaching undecided MPs, many of whom were from the conservative and business oriented Centre and National Coalition parties.

Together with Tahdon2013, we realized that support from the business world could make a difference. But Finnish businesses don’t take part in political debate. We needed to change this culture and find a way to encourage businesses to step forward.

A workshop introduced the issue to businesses and demonstrated potential commercial and employer branding benefits. A group of companies was enlisted to show their support on a website created for the campaign, encouraging others to join. Standing up for gay rights was made easy with an online platform and shareable social media content. With well-placed media pitches, easy participation mechanism and leverage from social media, businesses began to challenge each other and the campaign became a phenomenon.

Media coverage was huge. 950+ businesses signed up in two weeks. #metahdomme was the most popular topic in social media, reaching over 3.8 million users. The campaign was cited by the Prime Minister in his endorsement for the law. MPs heard the message and the law was passed, making Finland a better place to live and love.

A month into the vote, we set up an online platform where organizations could join each other in a shared message to decision-makers. An initial group of companies was invited to join the campaign before its launch.

Participation was made as easy as possible; emailing a logo was enough. To enable participants to challenge their peers we created simple #mehaastamme (‘we challenge’) images in every color of the rainbow and instructions for spreading the campaign in social media. We activated users across channels to invite brands and companies to join, creating a new dynamic between the public, businesses and politicians.

The parliament passed the equal marriage act with votes 105-92, making it the first Citizen’s Initiative to become a law in Finland.

On the day the campaign site was launched, over 200 organizations signed up and messages supporting the campaign flooded social media. Tahdon2013 Facebook followers went from 68 000 to nearly 100 000. Media coverage was huge. 950+ businesses signed up in two weeks.

Throughout the campaign #metahdomme remained as one of the most popular topics in social media, reaching over 3.8 million users.