SXSW

TECHNORATI: Top #SXSW social media honors to the little red box with a whole lot of clout

March 14, 2014 — Leave a comment

Author: Andre Bourque
Published: March 12, 2014 at 1:44 am

Digital excellence

I still recall seeing it the first time. The little red box scattered around my Facebook feed. The first one I saw was made to look like bacon, however–a prelude to an abundance of Photoshop variations to come.

The Human Rights Campaign was the big winner in this year’s South by Southwest Interactive Awards. In a category all about users, campaigns and platforms that connect people and enable them to share experiences, this little red and pink graphic took the country by storm.
It was hard to miss, particularly when heavy social media influencers like George Takei made it his profile picture, generating over 40,000 Facebook likes, alone.
That’s 30,000 more than another, less popular human rights logo generated in its entire lifetime.
The graphic itself is a variation of the Human Rights Campaign logo unveiled in 1995. The logo signified the organization’s transition to reflect the wider goals and influence of what had previously been known as the Human Rights Campaign Fund.
In late March 2013, as the U.S. Supreme Court was hearing arguments in two marriage equality cases, HRC shared a red version of its logo – selected because the color is synonymous with love – on Facebook and Twitter and asked supporters to change their profile photos to show their support.
This week, the graphic, and the campaign around it won top awards in not just one, but three SXSW categories:
  1. Social Media
  2. Digital Campaign of the Year
  3. Best of Show
How it came about, is a veritable study on the power of social media influence.

The power of social influence

Hundreds of prominent American companies, dozens of leading Republicans, and President Barack Obama each filed historic amicus briefs to the Court in support of equal marriage. Five U.S. Senators announced their support for marriage equality in a 72 hour period. Thousands gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court in support of equal justice under the law.

That’s what happens when you enroll powerful influencers with a powerful message, and drive it through social media.
This simple red HRC logo took over Facebook, quadrupled traffic to HRC.org, and came to symbolize a pivotal moment for equality.

Celebrity Engagement

From actors to musicians  and athletes to TV personalities, dozens of celebrities shared the modified HRC logo or supportive messages about marriage equality with their millions of followers on social media. “It’s about TIME!!! #EQUALITY #MarryWhoYouLove,” said Beyoncé, posting the HRC logo to her more than 44 million followers. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons changed his Twitter profile photo and tweeted, “Love is love. Strike down #DOMA,” to his more than 2.5 million followers.

Corporate Endorsements

And this wasn’t merely a celebrity and political movement, either. Highly recognized brands and corporations jumped in and showed their support for marriage equality with creative variations of the red HRC logo.

This week at South by Southwest, the social media campaign came full circle, and HRC walked away with full honors, and full glory.

Original Link:http://technorati.com/social-media/article/top-sxsw-social-media-honors-to/