The idea was to create a human herd with one purpose: to end the ivory trade and save the elephant from extinction. A herd so vast it would have the power to challenge regimes, mobilise leaders, change consumer behaviour and legislation.

#JoinTheHerd would be a rallying cry around which millions could gather, transcending politics and nationality, to save a species. A global social platform of people, groups and organisations, empowered to enact real change wherever they live. The potential would be endless.

We would launch around Chinese New Year, hijacking the Year of the Monkey to declare it the Year of the Elephant. We would make #JoinTheHerd a social badge of honour – a statement and show of support worn across all social platforms by celebrities and influencers, inspiring millions to follow them and #JoinTheHerd. Once grown, the herd would be mobilised at key moments, campaigning for a total ban.

NB: NO PAID MEDIA SPEND OR SEEDING BUDGET

Our launch hijacked the social conversation around the largest celebration on earth, Chinese New Year, by asking the world to #JoinTheHerd save the elephant from extinction in 2016.

We built momentum through ambassadors and celebrity outreach, and on 30th April 2016, we invited the Herd and the World to stand with Kenya and witness LIVE the largest ivory cremation in history. We simultaneously live streamed on Periscope/Twitter and Netease in China, hosting a live commentary on mobile with a promo on the biggest screen in the world - the Bund Building in Shanghai – running every 15 minutes for 72 hours.

Together, our global audience of millions witnessed a symbolic end to the ivory trade. And as the world watched and pledged support, other NGO’s and governments joined the Herd and took a stand that elephants are valuable, not ivory.

We achieved phenomenal results with NO PAID MEDIA. Generating 1.9 billion total impressions, we assembled a herd endorsed by NGOs across the globe and mobilise legislative change:

- 9/2/16 - Andrew Cuomo signed a new law to combat the illegal ivory trade

- 30/4/16 - Ségolène Royal announced a decision to ban ivory sales in France

- 4/5/16 - Hawaii legislature passed a bill to ban sales of ivory

- WildAid’s message featured on news channels globally, especially broadcast: inc. CCTV, CNN, Sky, Aljazeera

- Mentions in 160 countries (China and US top)

- Top influencers engaged: Ellen DeGeneres, Leonard DiCaprio, Ricky Gervais, Ian Somerhalder, Yoko Ono, Martha Stewart, Arianna Huffington and Bear Grylls

- 1.9 billion total global impressions

- 1.45 billion media reach; AVE of £13.4m

- 450m social impressions

- 3m interactions across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Weibo/WeChat

- 38m views in China alone

- High shareability – 72% of Twitter mentions were retweets