2022 was a year marked by wars. Many conflicts happening all around the world were overwhelming the media. Unfortunately, as these recent tragic events got all the attention, another long-lasting fight on the verge of being lost was forgotten: the war against precarity.

Yet, in 2022, more than 10.000 homeless people died in Europe.

More than 1000 in France.

The Salvation Army, the other army, with troops fighting a war on precarity, was in desperate need of recruits. They had to act fast. They needed an impactful message to recruit as many soldiers as possible.

What do you do when a fight has all the attention? You copy the way it communicates to get the same coverage.

The Salvation Army created its own emergency call-to-arms video message mimicking the iconic messages soldiers share on social media.

The video was first shared online by an anonymous soldier of the NGO.

It showed up where real soldiers' messages were watched.

At first, one could believe that it was yet another testimony from the battlefield. But there was a twist. This soldier wasn’t talking about a war raging abroad. His fight was happening right here, in France. And he badly needed urgent help.

As soldiers’ videos from the front were more and more popular, The Salvation Army seized this opportunity to give a lot of visibility to its own fight.

Mimicking iconic soldiers’ video messages was not only a way to become part of the conversations, but it also allowed The Salvation Army to emphasis the importance of its fight and invite potential recruits to join their fight, talking to them right where real soldiers share their content.

The video was first posted by a soldier from The Salvation Army through his own social media accounts using carefully curated hashtags to make it appear where real soldiers’ content was shared: #war #warishell #soldier #military #warzone #fight #conflict #battles #combat

Once the video gained attention, it started to be shared by users who saw it.

Then, The Salvation Army also shared it through its official accounts.

In the end, the video got coverage from both social and traditional media.

The video triggered a strong online reaction and even got the media’s attention which boosted exposure to the campaign. As people were surprised and moved by this testimony from the other front, it reminded them of the crucial fight The Salvation Army leads against precarity. It resulted in an increase of donations and applications.

In numbers:

5 million media impressions

9 million euros in earned media

+258% submitted volunteer applications

+38% in donations