Stickmen

Rebrandhiv

Rebrandhiv (later referred to as ’stopvillain’ campaign) is a joint venture between Stickmen and our longstanding client Siriti (PTY) LTD (www.siriti.co.za).

The Idea:

Past efforts to get people to live more responsible with regards to getting infected by the HIVirus have failed. People are in denial enabling the virus to continue on its destructive path.

Also the Red Ribbon is an icon that represents solidarity towards HIV and Aids. This icon sadly also carries huge baggage from the past. Many people, when they see the red ribbon, just blank out any further information.

By normalizing HIV as a VIRUS, which we have named “Villain the Virus”, our vision is to redirect the attention to the Virus and away from the individual.
What we would like to achieve is to STOP “VILLAIN” from:
1. Entering people bodies (prevention)
2. Destroying people’s immune systems (early detection)
3. Reducing life expectancy of those people who are infected (correct treatment and care)

Through this effort we are hoping to “re-brand” HIV as a disease that can be prevented and if infected can become a chronic manageable disease.

Implementation:

- A Logo of the Virus “the villain” was created to enforce our vision to direct the attention to the virus and away from people and to break down existing stigma.

- A blog was created to invite people to ‘join the movement’ and to capture the start of the conversation – may it be positive or negative -talking about it was the goal to grab peoples attention – www.stopvillain.me

- Creating of promotional items to support people wanting to join the movement (email branding/ free down-loadable educational material – extremely simple and attractive designed to get peoples attention and interest to know more)

- Creation of a shopping cart http://www.stopvillain.me/ to enable bigger corporations as well as smaller companies to purchase merchandise to encourage their employees to ‘Join the movement’ and to live more responsible.

- A Google Adwords campaign to increase visibility of the campaign online.

- An email campaign to introduce the campaign and to gather feedback which enables us to measure our campaign and move it forward.

The result:

- We had tremendous positive feedback from private people as well as from wellness managers of big corporates. They are excited to take part in the movement and to spread the word further.

- We also had few negative comments from people that were put off by the ‘Villain’ itself which gave us a chance to chat to these people to ensure they really understand the idea behind the campaign.

- We were interviewed by the ‘Sheq’ a magazine focusing 100% on HIV and the prevention thereof.

- We are selling merchandise for World Aids Day which means people are really excited about the campaign and are happy to spend money on it.

- We have started the movement and are making a difference in the course this disease will make!