I created a multi-media marketing campaign that focused on censorship in the People’s Republic of China. The goal was to raise awareness via an intuitive and actionable campaign.

My Role

After conducting social and market research, I conceptualized, structured, and branded the Beyond the Wall campaign. I then designed and developed the live website and created mock-ups of a potential social media component.

The Challenge

As an outsider looking in on a subject I knew little about, I tried to be particularly conscious of ethnocentrism and the differing cultural sensibilities of the East and West. I also did my best to remain objective in my research and only form an opinion once I'd acquired and vetted a substantial amount of well-sourced information from multiple viewpoints.

Empathy & Action

While the social issue was specifically focused on China, the need for awareness was globally reaching. Some of the first questions I asked were, "How do we get people outside of China to care about this?" and subsequently, “How do we lead them to meaningful action?”

The approach

After researching the topic thoroughly, I directed my thinking to social media marketing and campaign strategy. I conducted a detailed competitive analysis of two previously viral humanitarian campaigns: Kony 2012 and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

Kony 2012, despite its unfortunate life cycle in the public eye, was a visually polished campaign . The initial video led users to a cleanly designed microsite that acted as an information nexus for the entire campaign.

It also reiterated the calls-to-action, including the "Cover the Night" event where supporters would take to the streets on a specified date to "blanket cities" with cause-related posters and art. This uniquely interactive event guaranteed a resurgence of social relevance once the campaign's initial attention had faded.

A key factor to both of these viral phenomenons was the heartstring-tugging effects they had on America's digital denizens. Both stories involve evil forces and a humanitarian call for help, both evoke genuine feelings of empathy. Those feelings are then met with multiple paths for people to "get involved", even if just by raising awareness.

The construction

It was important to me that the branding had an authentic look and feel that connected with the people it aimed to serve. I delved deep into visual research and began gathering stock photography that captured the campaign’s essence.

While trying to conceptualize an identity to build the campaign around, the idea of Beyond the Wall came about, which works both as a reference to China’s “Great Wall” and also their notorious digital “Great Firewall”. I immediately began sketching concepts for the logo and looking for potential visual connections to censorship.

While researching characters of the Standard Mandarin Alphabet, I came across the radical symbol known as 言. Unless this is some sort of bootleg tattoo parlor situation, I'm to believe that the 言 symbol is utilized in various ways to allude to concepts of words or speech.

I began building off of the 言 symbol and experimenting further with typography and color. After a lot of time and refinement, I eventually arrived at the final version of the logo, which can be seen below.

The Beyond the Wall mark combines the Mandarin character for speech (言) with the symbolism of a defensive wall, alluding to both The Great Wall of China and the general concept of impediment. Like a stone wall, the grid that it aligns to provides structural integrity.

The Execution

My final proposal for the "Beyond the Wall" campaign consisted of three core components:

1. Campaign Video

The campaign would begin with an informative video seeking to educate and connect with viewers about the censorship issues in China. The video would be released and boosted across all Beyond the Wall social channels, hopefully gaining steam, and would direct viewers to the campaign website to get involved.

Since I’m not a video editor, I created a sort of ‘video moodboard’, that depicts the general vibe the video hoped to capture.