The idea:

The Pride flag reimagined as a dynamic web utility measuring LGBTQ+ laws, rights and social sentiment.

Data insights:

As often as laws are tools of protection, they can also be tools of oppression - with marginalized communities being especially vulnerable. The sheer volume and decentralized nature of global legal data on LGBTQ+ issues is a barrier to access and, fundamentally, a barrier to progress. We can't change what we can't see.

Innovation:

Destination Pride takes large amounts of complex data and makes them accessible, comparable, and impactful. It harnesses, reframes and warms the data to serve a human need.

Originality:

We started with an understanding of the problem: global laws are vast and unequal, and they're hard to navigate. Figuring out what the bars should measure, where to find the data, and how to serve it all to users in real time all contribute to the originality of our solution.

Destination Pride allows users to search most locations on earth, from the biggest cities and countries to the smallest towns.

The current iteration of DestinationPride.org has been in development for more than a year, and was market-tested across three distinct prototypes:

June 2017 - Beta launch.

January 2018 - Version 1.0 + launch campaign.

April 2018 - Version 2.0

On January 15, 2018, we launched the full 1.0 version of the site. We supported this launch with PR and a global ad campaign that included more than 100 unique Facebook campaigns, running in 92 countries and 46 languages. Each campaign targeted local LGBTQ+ communities and contained unique creative featuring the target country's flag - and contextual messaging based on region-specific insights.

Between major version releases, we implemented a series of updates and patches - each designed to address user feedback, tweak the algorithm for accuracy, and/or improve the user experience. We also incorporated Input from potential brand partners and community supporters.

In total and across disciplines, our team logged more than 5,000 hours creating, developing and refining DestinationPride.org and its campaign materials.

The data here fuels all three of: the idea, the targeting and the creative execution. For maybe the first time, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies can see a vast amount of global data on equality in one simple package.

Data driven behaviour change:

Users from 156 of the world's 195 countries

+85,000 destinations searched and flags generated

Business impact:

+135 pieces of media coverage, including Fast Company, Huffington Post, Lifehacker, ad trades and LGBTQ+ publications from Brazil to Norway to Japan.

1.26-million estimated coverage views

1,226% increase in social mentions of PFLAG Canada during campaign period

PFLAG Canada is a grassroots not-for-profit that's created a utility with global application and impact.

Conversation activation across tourism offices (including New Zealand and Vancouver), politicians (Alberta MPP, Sandra Jansen) and celebrities (Tegan and Sara).

Partnership interest from major global travel and LGBTQ+ community brands.

All contributing to Destination Pride being the most shared and discussed communication platform in PFLAG's 45-year history.

Our Pride flag visualizations have been included in the London Design Museum's retrospective on graphic design and political messaging. The show, called, "Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008-18" runs until August 12, 2018.

The sheer volume and decentralized nature of global legal data on LGBTQ+ issues is a barrier to access and, fundamentally, a barrier to progress. We can't change what we can't see.

Destination Pride harnesses that data and uses it as raw material for dynamic, individualized creative executions. Each one providing a single, hyper-localized reference point for measuring progress.

Social Data & Insight:

1. Purple bar measures geo-localized social media sentiment.

2. Flag shares contribute to positive social sentiment.

3. Used more than 100 separate Facebook campaigns to identify and target LGBTQ+ travellers in their home countries.

Data gathering: We identified six key areas of focus: marriage equality, sexual activity law, gender identity protections, anti-discrimination laws, civil rights and liberties, and social media sentiment.

Our algorithm gathers the country-, state- and city-level laws that govern those areas from the LGBTQ+ knowledge base Equaldex. Next, it validates and gap-fills with data from Wikipedia. Finally, it pulls real-time social media sentiment from the social analytics tool Netbase. Each bar is assigned a value, then averaged to an overall numerical score.

Data interpretation: By combining hard legal data with soft social sentiment data, the platform seeks to provide a fuller picture of on-the-ground conditions for both local LGBTQ+ communities and travellers.

Targeting: Our geographically individualized Facebook Ad campaigns targeted people who were interested in LGBTQ+ topics, groups and events, and who showed interest in travel. Ads ran in local languages, and were contextual to local conditions. For example, during Toronto's cold winter, we showed ads on how to use the platform to find LGBTQ+ friendly hot spot vacations. Whereas in relatively hostile Moscow, Russia, we ran ads showing gay-friendly destinations within a direct flight. In total, we created more than 100 unique campaigns, running in 92 countries and 46 languages.

As with many marginalized groups, the global LGBTQ+ community has been engaged in a long and ongoing struggle for equality. To a large extent, that struggle plays out across a country's laws, rights and cultural landscape. For example, marriage equality, adoption, blood donation, military service rights, even the rules surrounding gender assignment on government documentation - each can have a profound impact on a person's life. And each are governed by specific public policies and laws. This is a lot of data. And navigating it creates ongoing complexity.

From its work as a peer-to-peer not-for-profit supporting the LGBTQ+ community, PFLAG Canada knew that inequalities are both widespread and vary widely depending where you are.

Our brief: draw attention to these inequalities - and help the LGBTQ+ community navigate them.

Objectives:

Shine a light on global inequalities.

Engage global LGBTQ+ travellers.

Bring scale to PFLAG Canada's mandate.