Key information
Request reference number: MGLA210322-7392
Date of response:
Summary of request
Your request
Can you provide me with the cost of the Have A Word campaign, which budget it came from and provide all of the research and data which shows that a PR campaign will indeed help protect women.
Our response
The Have A Word campaign aims to challenge the sexist attitudes and inappropriate behaviours exhibited by some men in order to tackle the epidemic of misogyny and violence against women and girls (VAWG).
It speaks to men who perpetuate toxic forms of masculinity and who stand by when women feel threatened, putting the onus on men to self-reflect and call out misogynistic behaviour when they see it.
This campaign aligns with one of the Mayor’s key priorities for safety - to seek to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) in London and change the culture that enables this to happen.
A woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK and women’s safety is considered one of the five most important issues to Londoners.
The cost of the Have A Word campaign, up to the date we received your request on 18 March 2022, is £117,134.98, which was spent from the Central Marketing Budget.
This amount includes all creative production and paid advertising spend. This spend unlocked a multi-platform campaign worth over £1m through pro bono and partner support and has already reached over 10 million views.
The Have A Word campaign was informed by a variety of publicly available data and insights, working in close collaboration with experts across the VAWG sector. The GLA also worked with behavioural insights experts who identified that a campaign would be an effective way to shift behaviour.
Consultation with the VAWG sector revealed that low-level misogyny is often a precursor to more violent behaviour and to truly tackle violence against women and girls, a fundamental cultural shift is required.
The data and insights we hold suggest that this shift must include men choosing to reject sexism and misogyny, which if left unchecked or unchallenged can lead to abuse and violence towards women and girls.
Insights and behavioural science also tell us that people are more likely to listen to people they know and trust, supporting an approach to engage potential bystanders to prevent misogynistic behaviour and actions. This is also the strategic approach followed by the recent Home Office campaign tackling VAWG.
Some of the information and research we held found:
Around seven in ten women (69%) say the government’s efforts in supporting women’s safety are lacking, compared with 59% of men. YouGov
76% of women say men in society don’t pull their weight in keeping women and girls safe. YouGov
68% men and 79% women agree doing more to criticise their male friends for bad behaviour towards women would be somewhat effective. YouGov
Behavioural insights via our creative agency highlighted that asking men to take part in the solution will be the most effective way for communications to reach all men. [Michie, S., van Stralen, M. M., & West, R. (2011). The behaviour change wheel: A new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implementation Science, 6, 42.]
We also know from the psychology of persuasion (Robert B. Cialdini) that most people prefer to say yes to someone they know and like. [Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. 2007.]
The COM-B model of behaviour [Michie, S., van Stralen, M. M., & West, R. (2011). The behaviour change wheel: A new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implementation Science, 6, 42] is widely used to identify what needs to change in order for a behaviour change intervention to be effective. Social environment and cultural norms facilitate behaviour and can powerfully prevent negative behaviours, thanks to injunctive social norming.
A PR and advertising campaign was therefore identified as a solution to help prevent misogynistic behaviour from escalating amongst men and challenge social norms around misogyny.
The VAWG sector were consulted in meetings and promoted the use of the Mayor’s power to help prevent men’s misogynistic behaviours and by-stander culture.
If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact me, quoting the reference MGLA210322-7392.