Chose your messenger(s)

When developing a human rights-based campaign, it is often recommended to work with credible and authentic messengers to get your message across, trigger sympathy and support, but also to reach new audiences.

Important note: Whether or not you include messenger(s) depends on your campaign. It is not always necessary and needed to have one, but generally it can benefit your campaign greatly to include other voices. So, if you decide that you want to include one or more messengers, you should think about the following questions when choosing who to involve:

  • Who can deliver your message, authentically and credibly?
  • Who has access to the audience or might be a useful ally?
  • Who could even be a surprising ally, which might increase reach and awareness?

 Example: the Institute for Strategic Dialogue initiated the educational program Extreme Dialogue, involving compelling films of first-hand stories of former extremists and survivors of extremism. The selected messengers are authentic and speak from their own experiences. Involving former extremists is a surprising element, including the personal stories of victims and survivors brings it closer to the audience.

A messenger can be a prominent supporter or spokesperson such as a politician or an influencer, but also people targeted by hate speech (if they are open to talk about their experiences) or authentic representatives of your target audience.

The selection of a messenger should not be hastened. Before contacting a possible messenger, you should put some time and effort into research to make sure that your protagonist is the right person for your campaign.

 Example: JUMA implemented the campaign #gemeinsammenschlich (translates together human) to show the diversity of Germany’s society; therefore, the campaign team selected protagonists from different professions, but not famous actors or influencers, to show that together, as a society, we share values, experiences and moments every day, which is something to celebrate.

 

 How to get messengers ?

Once you have identified (a) possible messenger(s) for your campaign, it is time to prepare your pitch: How can you convince your chosen messenger to participate in your campaign?
Rule of thumb: Be precise and get to the point, quickly. Make sure to say:

  • Who are you? What is your project, what is your NGO doing?
  • What is it that you plan to do? What is the message of your campaign?
  • What exactly is expected of the messenger? Be as specific as possible: Is it a short statement, video, audio, how much time will it take, where will it be shared.

Depending on the messenger you want to convince to take part in your campaign, it might sometimes be easier to get in touch via social media and not via email.

One more thing: Budget is usually scarce, and in general, you want your messengers to support your campaign because they are actually happy to stand for your cause. Yet, it is not uncommon to pay or offer a (small) professional fee as your messengers also have to get by.

 How to work with messengers on a budget?

Find messengers that either have a team or are comfortable using their phone to record videos of themselves, e.g., on Instagram. This means that they, generally, know how to make videos or audios with a good quality – and no worries: Almost all smartphones have a decent camera as well as sound recording, so for an authentic campaign on a budget, this should work. If your selected messengers are not regularly in front of the camera or microphone, be as specific as possible when sending your instructions – or better yet: Meet them yourself and record the video/ audio.

What to keep in mind when working with messengers?

Be aware that when working with messengers, you should also have the capacities to, first and foremost, prepare them for possible backlash. Social Media is unpredictable at times and, when involving others in your campaign, you are responsible for their safety and well-being as well.

Prepare messengers for possible backlash, especially if you already know that you and your NGO are targeted continuously by haters. Additionally, you should block some capacities and resources, if possible, to support your messengers on their respective accounts in case they are targeted by hate speech and criticism for supporting you and your campaign.

 The No Hate Speech Movement’s WE CAN manual provides a template to help you dentify an appropriate messenger (promoters).

 WE CAN handout on defining your supporters

 Briggs, Rachel and Sebastian Feve. (2013): Review of programs to counter narratives of violent extremism, Institute of StraRtegic Dialogue.
In this report, the authors argue that survivors, former extremists, and others who have authority with the target audience are credible messengers. However, they argue that although these speakers are essential for effective counter-messaging, they often lack the capacity or networks to reach a large audience.