A Single Hashtag Changing the World... The Spread of Contactless Campaigns

by Cho Seulkina

Published 14 May.2020 10:36(KST)

SKT's 'Animal-Free Zoo' Gains Attention for Authenticity and Easy Participation

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] "I participated because it was easy to do and had a good meaning." A single photo shared online with a hashtag, a single tweet is changing the offline world. As the so-called contactless era has fully begun, online campaigns crossing various themes are demonstrating their influence worldwide.

According to the industry on the 14th, SK Telecom's "Animal-Free Zoo," which gained attention at the "2020 New York Festival," one of the world's top three international advertising festivals, is considered a representative contactless campaign that led voluntary participation from celebrities to the public through simple social networking services (SNS). This campaign, launched in August last year to create a social atmosphere where humans and animals coexist and to raise public awareness of animal protection, was selected as a finalist in the environmental protection and integrated marketing categories at the New York Festival earlier this month.

In addition to the simple participation method of sharing photos taken with animals on personal SNS and leaving only hashtags such as #DongmulEopsneunDongmulwon (Animal-Free Zoo), the sincerity of the campaign video showing that ICT can protect nature also played a role. Previously, more than 23,000 people, including about 70 celebrities and sports stars, participated in the hashtag relay event. The campaign video related to wildlife protection posted on YouTube also surpassed 2.95 million views. The latest media technology in the video, such as ultra-realistic video conversion technology that vividly expresses animal fur, also became a hot topic.

SK Telecom stated, "The campaign received good evaluations for raising public interest in wildlife and creating a warm social resonance by composing a sincere campaign video and making it easy for the public to participate in the campaign."

Such contactless campaigns are rapidly integrating into daily life as social distancing becomes routine due to the recent spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Overseas, contactless donation campaigns to overcome the COVID-19 crisis are continuing, involving everyone from famous sports stars to ordinary people.

The donation campaign "#WeKickCorona" conducted on SNS by Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka of Bayern Munich raised more than 4 million euros (about 5.4 billion KRW) as of the 3rd. In the UK, a 99-year-old grandfather became a hot topic by raising donations amounting to 29.35 million pounds (about 44.6 billion KRW) within about 20 days of his YouTube debut. Tom Moore, a World War II veteran, challenged himself to walk 100 laps in his backyard relying on assistive devices despite his limited mobility ahead of his 100th birthday.