On the eve of International Women’s Day, we challenged the symbol of corporate America—Wall Street's Charging Bull—with a bronze statue of a young girl, appropriately named “Fearless Girl.” Fearless Girl was designed to represent the power of women today and tomorrow. Hands on hips, chin high, she stands strong in a place the business community couldn't ignore.

Along with the statue, we created #FearlessGirl and invited people across the world to use it in joining our fight for women in leadership by lending their voice and sharing images of the statue. With this social media campaign, we created the opportunity for Fearless Girl to be more than a single statue, but a unifying message that transcended her place on Wall Street.

Nearly thirty years ago, a bronze Charging Bull statue appeared on Wall Street in the middle of the night, as a symbol for the strength of the American economy. On the eve of International Women’s Day 2017, we placed a bronze, Fearless Girl on Wall Street, in the middle of the night, to challenge him.

In creating Fearless Girl, we wanted to ensure that, despite her size, her presence came with the same power as the Charging Bull. Chin high, hands on hips, she stands for the power of women today and tomorrow. With the statue, we built an online and social media campaign that started with a behind-the-scenes film for International Women’s Day and the launch of #FearlessGirl across social media platforms and female influencers. We wanted Fearless Girl to be more than a statue, but a rallying cry for fearless women and girls everywhere.

Over 1 billion Twitter impressions within the first 12 hours; 3.3 billion Twitter impressions in 5 weeks; 405 million Instagram impressions in 6 weeks.

SSGA’s SHE Fund saw a 384% increase in its average daily trading volume in the first 3 days following the Fearless Girl launch.

SSGA’s share of voice jumped 379% (3/7 - 3/31; source: Radian6).

In six days, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, joined SSGA’s call for greater diversity on corporate boards.

Fearless Girl reached 128 countries, with the majority of conversation in financial, leadership, innovation and social justice communities.

Online petitions demanding Fearless Girl remain in place garnered over 40,000 signatures, leading NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio to admit her as city public art, letting her stay through at least 2018.

Fearless Girl inspired Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney to re-introduce her Gender Diversity in Corporate Leadership Act.

There’s been a lot of talk about the lack of women in corporate leadership. But with their SHE fund, investment firm State Street Global Advisors wanted investors to take action. To do this, we challenged Wall Street’s overwhelmingly masculine Charging Bull statue with a statue of a defiant little girl. Fearless Girl was designed for people to stand with her, emulate her pose and share our message. Along with the statue, we created #FearlessGirl and asked people to join our movement.With this, Fearless Girl became more than a single statue, but a rallying cry for women across the world.

SSGA wanted to make a statement: they had proven that companies with strong female leadership performed better than their male-led counterparts. Launching the SHE Fund was one strong action from the brand, but it only spoke to financial insiders.

To get broader awareness, the PR strategy was simple: choose the right moment (the eve of the first International Women’s Day of the Trump era), the right place (opposite Wall Street’s Charging Bull), and the right figure (a proudly defiant and expertly sculpted bronze girl). The strategy was all about context—cultural as well as physical.

Here’s a simple fact: Year after year, the number of women in corporate leadership positions continues to be disproportionately low.

Here’s another: Research from MSCI Global reveals that companies with higher percentages of women in leadership roles outperform those that don’t.

The implications are obvious: women in corporate leadership positions are good for business. This isn’t simply about gender equality; this is about the bottom line.

To allow investors to leverage this fact, State Street Global Advisors developed “SHE”—the first ETF comprised of corporations with the highest percentages of women in leadership positions.

To commemorate International Women’s Day, we wanted to craft a bold message to draw attention to, and ignite conversation about, just how essential women in leadership positions are. We wanted to alter the course of corporate leadership, not with a gentle nudge but with a formidable push.

And we did. With one Fearless Girl.