CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW & OBJECTIVES

The primary goal of this campaign is to raise awareness about the issue of mass incarceration in the United States. With more than 2.2 million people in prisons across the country, the U.S. has an incarceration rate of 655 per 100,000 people, easily making it the global leader in incarcerations.

Not only has this resulted in prison overcrowding and placed increasing financial burdens on states, it has also disproportionately affected people of color, who make up 67% of today's prison population. That racial disparity can be attributed to a variety of factors including implicit racial bias among law enforcement, significant sentencing policies towards minor drug offenses and youth crime, and socioeconomic inequities. All of this has continued despite the fact that research has shown incarceration is not an effective remedy for reducing drug and youth crimes specifically.

The Sentencing Project is one of the nation's leading non-profits dedicated to criminal justice research and advocacy for policy reform. Through this campaign, The Sentencing Project will partner with Adidas, the second largest sportswear manufacturer in the world, to raise awareness for criminal justice reform and generate donations towards its research and advocacy. Those donations will be generated through Adidas directly, who will offer significant discounts on all of its orange-colored products for the month of October and donate 50% of the profits from those sales to The Sentencing Project.

The month of October was chosen because it the only month of the year in which the MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL and NCAA football sports leagues all play games at the same time, which will provide the ultimate opportunity for a social media blitz to reach the most people. The spheres of sports and racial inequity also overlap significantly more than many high-powered leagues, including the NFL, are willing to admit. This is despite the willingness of fans and athletes to rally around the issue as demonstrated by the recent movement created by Colin Kaepernick. This social media campaign therefore represents a chance to capitalize on the support for racial inequity we've seen throughout the sports world in recent years and raise the most money possible toward addressing the cause.

Adidas will also gather its heavyweight sponsored athletes including the NBA's James Harden and Damian Lillard, the NFL's Patrick Mahomes and Von Miller and the MLB's Aaron Judge to promote the sale of its orange-colored products through The Sentencing Project's social media posts. The orange theme was chosen to symbolize the orange jumpsuits often worn by the incarcerated.

The Sentencing Project will utilize the social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to advertise the #PlayforJustice movement, along with the over 80 different orange-colored items being sold at a discount by Adidas.

Throughout the month of October, The Sentencing Project is looking to gain atleast 100,000 new followers each on Facebook (around 44,000 currently) and Twitter (around 33,000 currently, along with 10,000 new followers on Instagram (around 2,000 currently). In its posts, The Sentencing Project will provide statistics about mass incarceration and links to Adidas.com, where products can be bought at a discount. By extension, this will influence The Sentencing Project's donations if orange Adidas products are bought more frequently.

Finally, The Sentencing Project is looking for the #PlayforJustice hashtag to be used over 50,000 times. While The Sentencing Project recognizes that completing all of these goals over the course of one month will be a tough task, that is why the organization is tapping into the world of sports through Adidas to reach a potentially significant donor base. October is also the best month to reach sports fans as mentioned because of all the games that will be played, which will hopefully create a swell of momentum towards the cause and sale of products.

CAMPAIGN TARGET AUDIENCE

The Sentencing Projects' target audience for this campaign is males from ages 30-55. Given that the campaign will run in October, a month that encompasses sports including baseball, basketball and football, the target audience needs to reflect the demographics that predominantly watch those sports. According to Statista, 41% of males are "avid" sports fans, as opposed to just 18% of females.

With regards to the average ages of male sports fans, the majority of basketball fans tend to be slightly younger than their football counterparts at age 42 compared to age 50 for the latter. Baseball fans are slightly older than football fans on average at around age 57. That is why such a large age range was utilized.

The Sentencing Project also wants the target audience to reflect prison demographics themselves, which could help the message of mass incarceration resonate more effectively with people. This is why men specifically were chosen as the target audience, since The Sentencing Project hopes to resonate with them most significantly as they reflect on other men in prison. According to The Sentencing Project, a whopping 93% of the U.S. prison population is comprised of men. This includes one in 17 black men from age 30-34, 1 in 42 Hispanic men, and 1 in 91 white men.

Additionally, according to the Pew Research Center, 82% of U.S. adults from ages 30-49 used atleast one social media site in 2019. 63% of men also used Facebook, 31% used Instagram, and 24% used Twitter.

By tailoring this social media campaign to men on those platforms and establishing the Adidas connection, The Sentencing Project is confident a large number of them will purchase orange-colored products and in turn increase donations. The Sentencing Project is also confident that this target audience will be ideal for generating the most awareness possible about mass incarceration and get the #PlayforJustice movement off the ground.

CURRENT APPROACHES

Nike's Colin Kaepernick Ad Campaign

• While not directly linked to mass incarceration, Nike's 2018 ad campaign featuring ex-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick was an extremely successful partnership that highlighted Kaepernick's movement against police brutality and racial inequity in the United States
• Kaepernick, who began his movement by taking a knee during the National Anthem, has since become a controversial figure but is well-liked among younger demographics as demonstrated by the ads
• This ad campaign generated $163.5 million in media exposure for Nike and was strongly approved by younger demographics around age 30
• While the ad campaign has since ended, it reflected a changing attitude among sports fans with regards to their interest in a social justice issue, and allowed Kaepernick to continue advocating against racial inequity
• The ad also influenced the NFL, who said through a spokesperson at the time that Kaepernick's social justice campaign "deserves our attention and action"

ACLU Criminal Justice Ad Campaign

• In October 2018, just one month ahead of the midterm elections, the American Civil Liberties Union spent over $800,000 to run an ad in Georgia advocating for criminal justice reform which circulated until Election Day
• Specifically the ad advocated for taking steps to reduce mass incarceration and the state's number of private prisons, along with the prioritization of individual treatment over incarceration
• The main goal of the ads was to pit gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp against each other with regards to their records on criminal justice reform
• Along with premiering on TV, the ads were circulated around social media and on YouTube
• At the same time, the ACLU also launched digital ads and a video series which highlighted the experiences of three Georgia citizens who were impacted by the state's criminal justice system

Ben & Jerry's Justice ReMix'd Campaign

• In 2019, ice cream company Ben & Jerry's partnered with racial justice groups Color of Change and the Advancement Project to start a movement advocating for criminal justice reform along with the ending of mass incarceration
• Ben & Jerry's paired their new ice cream flavor Justice ReMix'd with an online petition which calls attention to many of the institutions that have contributed to the broken criminal justice system including cash-bail, the power of federal prosecutors and the placement of juveniles in adult prisons
• To date the petition has over 100,000 signatures
• Along with promoting the movement across social media, on its website Ben & Jerry's provides resources to learn more about criminal justice reform along with links to recent articles and local projects highlighting new developments

CAMPAIGN DELIVERABLES

This campaign will :

1. Work to educate men on the basic facts and problems associated within the criminal justice system in American today, including stark racial inequity, excessively lengthy sentences, lack of attention towards youth substance abuse and the cash-bail system. This will be achieved through social media posts spreading an overall awareness of The Sentencing Projects' research and people's ability to contribute by purchasing orange Adidas products.
2. Provide constant social media posts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook throughout October pointing users to The Sentencing Project's website and Adidas' promotional site where the company will be selling orange-colored products. The posts will range from daily informational uploads to polls and giveaways.
3. Track the demographics of people interacting with the posts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and those who are using #PlayforJustice. Adjustments can be made throughout the month based on the data received to target age groups or different demographics more effectively.
4. Evaluate donations received from The Sentencing Project's website versus those received from Adidas directly, which will help determine if more people are visiting The Sentencing Project's website itself or instead going to buy the orange-colored sportswear and contributing indirectly.
5. Make note of different fans using the hashtag more frequently than others so the ads can be altered to reflect that as needed. For example, if The Sentencing Project finds that football fans are using #PlayforJustice significantly more frequently than basketball fans, it can coordinate with Adidas to market orange-colored products like cleats more frequently.

SOCIAL MEDIA OUTREACH PLAN

FACEBOOK

• Facebook ads like the three shown here, which provide a mix of general information about The Sentencing Project, mass incarceration facts and the movement overall will likely draw attention to the movement.
• Including the hashtag in each post will also increase its use and allow the posts to appear throughout people's news feeds.
• On several posts, the Adidas three stripe logo was changed from black to orange in keeping with the Adidas promotion and overall theme of the movement.
• Athlete-forward posts like the last example pictured will also work to attract more members of the target audience (males from 30-55) due to the connection to sports. This will likely increase their attention to the movement and help it spread.
• Emphasis in these posts will be placed on laying out the facts for people and directing them to The Sentencing Project's website so they can become more informed. Having them visit the Adidas site to purchase orange-colored products, which will partially support donations to The Sentencing Project, will be the added bonus here.

TWITTER

• Daily posts on Twitter will focus on trying to get users to directly engage with the movement, whether it be through polls, giveaways, or researching the stories of individuals that The Sentencing Project spotlights.
• The Sentencing Project believes that humanizing the movement by telling the stories of those who have been wronged by the criminal justice system will help gain critical support from the target audience.
• The giveaways sponsored by some of sports brightest stars will also help entice men in the target audience to research the movement, use the hashtag, and potentially make further donations to The Sentencing Project.

INSTAGRAM

• Instagram posts will touch on similar themes to those used in Facebook posts. This includes laying out the facts in explanatory posts like the second example below and directing users to both The Sentencing Project's website and Adidas' website.
• General information about the movement and the hashtag will also be posted to The Sentencing Project's 'Instagram Story' each week so followers can stay informed even if they have not seen the posts directly.
• Adidas has a major Instagram footprint of nearly 26 million followers, and thus The Sentencing Project believes that further emphasizing the Adidas athletes helping to sponsor the movement is critical to its success.
• These posts will hopefully attract the attention of the target audience that will already be swept up in the fever of whatever sports they are watching at the time.

Schedule

CONCLUSION

The ultimate goal of this campaign is to inform and educate the public on the major problems that are engulfing the criminal justice system in America today and leading to the horrific cycle of mass incarceration and racial inequity we are seeing. The Sentencing Project strongly believes that this social media campaign will accomplish that goal through its unique array of content and well-targeted partnership with Adidas. If changes need to be made throughout the course of the month, they can be tailored to encompass a wider audience as well.

By providing those on social media with the tools to both engage with the content and make donations either directly to The Sentencing Project or through Adidas, The Sentencing Project believes this campaign will be successful. Additionally, if this movement manages to bring in a significant number of followers, it will allow The Sentencing Project to build momentum in its fight against mass incarceration moving forward.

Citations:

• https://www.sentencingproject.org
• https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/
• https://www.benjerry.com/values/issues-we-care-about/justice-remixd#takeaction
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/1018814/sports-fans-usa-gender/
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/754824/tv-audience-sport-average-age/
• https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/06/nikes-colin-kaepernick-ad-created-163point5-million-in-media-exposure.html
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/09/13/colin-kaepernicks-nike-ad-campaign-gets-more-yeahs-than-nays-from-young-people/

Posts created with: generatestatus.com and tweetgen.com

Additional photo credits: Adidas.com, Zimbio.com, XGames.com, NFL.com, Dailymail.co and ClevelandScene.com