#ichwillfair: Sustainability on Instagram

Powerful messages for young people

Launched by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the #ichwillfair brand is aimed at consumers. As a cross-media campaign with a casual tone, it provides information on topics related to fair trade, global supply chains, and sustainable practices. The goal is to encourage a young target audience to adopt changed – and above all, sustainable – behavior. At the heart of #ichwillfair is the Instagram channel of the same name. Here, the target audience is engaged in an accessible way, builds knowledge about sustainability, and receives concrete suggestions for everyday life.

In the run-up to the project, it quickly became clear: It’s a match! Not only in our collaboration with GIZ, but also in partnership with our agency Cosmonauts & Kings. In early 2022, we took over as the lead agency to coordinate and manage the #ichwillfair Instagram channel. Together, we implemented a communication strategy that uses data-driven and trend-oriented approaches to reach new user groups, drive follower growth, and foster long-term community engagement with the channel. The key to success: well-oiled and pragmatic coordination processes – and above all, a shared vision: to inspire consumers to adopt a sustainable lifestyle through modern and entertaining communication!

From Prospective Customers to Fans

At the heart of the campaign was a funnel strategy and a smart targeting concept. Our campaign management and social media specialists worked with Cosmonauts & Kings to develop tailored content series for specific interest groups and strategically optimized individual assets for different levels of engagement. As part of the targeting concept, the team defined target audiences based on interests and sociodemographic characteristics. As soon as users interacted with a post – that is, showed interest in the topic of sustainability – we automatically served them additional content from the series.

In this way, we strengthened awareness of #ichwillfair and were able to gradually turn interested individuals into true fans, expand the community, and significantly increase the number of interactions. 

Data-Driven Success

Another integral part of the campaign was the use of analytics tools and the development of detailed reports. Continuous monitoring laid the groundwork for quickly adapting the campaign to new insights based on data. This allowed us to closely analyze the behavior of our target audiences and followers. We also used this approach to examine content performance using individual data, compare it with past content, and optimize it based on specific insights. For example, it became clear that shareable images performed better than videos, and that the community values information about proposed legislation.

Using A/B testing, we also analyze which form of messaging or graphic resonates best with Instagram users. Through continuous optimization and regular strategy reviews, we were able to significantly improve the performance of individual assets over the course of the project.

Adaptives Social Listening

If you want to reach young, trend-conscious people, you have to adapt to viral trends quickly. For this reason, social listening was an integral part of the project, allowing us to gain real-time insights into ongoing conversations. The screening also gave us the ability to respond quickly to the latest memes and trending topics and link them to the #ichwillfair messages. This allows us to engage in sustained communication in real time and efficiently leverage existing media attention to strengthen #ichwillfair.