Best use of video 2024

One in three women will experience sexual assault or domestic violence, but it is not widely understood that gender-based violence takes many forms, including verbal and appearance-based abuse.

Avon has donated more than $91 million to help end gender-based violence over the past 30 years, and more recently has supported the United Nation’s annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

In 2023, to support the UN’s initiative, Avon wanted to raise awareness that not all abuse is physical and to show what constitutes verbally abusive behaviour.

It needed a campaign that would work across diverse cultures in Avon’s top seven international markets. But it also had to be authentic to Avon, with its core purpose to create a better world for women, which is a better world for all.

The campaign had to create a piece of content that could be amplified across Avon Worldwide’s digital and social channels, that could be used to generate editorial coverage and discussion and that could form the basis of real-life case studies.

Avon and its creative agency Red Consultancy partnered with The NO MORE Foundation, a global initiative comprising organisations including NGOs, corporations, schools and government bodies, dedicated to ending domestic and sexual violence.

The campaign’s starting point was a typical make-up tutorial video, but with a twist.

Instead of a woman growing in confidence as the tutorial progresses, Avon’s Reverse Make-Up Tutorial starts with a happy woman who gets her make-up stripped away by an abusive perpetrator against a soundtrack of abusive comments.

The script was carefully developed using true-life case studies. As the abuse progresses, the woman gets increasingly distressed. Her confidence is eroded.

The video was provided to local markets in an editable format.

Earlier research by Avon into abuse and coercive control had revealed that more than a third of women had insecurities about their self-worth based on comments from their partners.

Similarly, nearly half (47%) had received a negative comment on their general appearance by an intimate partner, including one in five who had faced such comments in the previous month.

Indeed, one in six British women have had a partner control their make-up. The survey’s findings provided a multimarket picture of appearance-related abuse, and how it affected women, their female friends and families.

The video launched on Avon Worldwide’s YouTube channel, and was signposted by social channels. Each local market targeted its media with a tailored pitch, offering different angles and various research data information.

Avon also worked with NO MORE to identify survivors of abuse who were willing to share their stories, highlighting the action they took to inspire other victims.

Each market worked with local NGOs, and signposted a list of organisations providing support for those dealing with abuse. This action led to a 28% increase in visits to these sites, compared to the seven weeks prior to the campaign going live.

More than 150 articles were written about the campaign, which also generated more than 4.7 million social media impressions and 136,600 engagements.

The campaign was the most successful across NO MORE’s channels during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, generating the highest engagement of all posts.

The judges were moved by this campaign, which they said achieved both impact and results.

As one added: ‘This is one of those campaigns that stays in the memory, which means it might not be relevant for someone watching it today, but it might be the thing that leads them to help if they need it in the future.’