Increasingly, TikTok is being used for educational purposes for Gen Z’ers and has become the go-to platform for learning British Sign Language (BSL). However, authentic content is being crowded out by inaccurate ‘Fake Sign’. The danger is that this content is spreading faster than accurate BSL – the more it trends the more it’s shared, further compounding the problem. We saw an opportunity to be allies and help our deaf community reclaim their language in a proactive social first idea targeting Gen Z on TikTok.

THE INSIGHT

A staggering 63% of Gen Z go to TikTok for their learning*, as a result it has naturally become the go-to platform to learn sign language. TikTok is a thriving and inclusive community for young deaf people with over half a billion views on #deaftok, yet 89% of young people fluent in sign language have experienced fake sign.

Audio and Music related posts, as well as dance videos (including dance challenges) are some of the most engaging types of content on TikTok. It is reported that 1 in 3 users globally have uploaded their own dance videos.

*https://www.marketingcharts.com/digital/social-media-228108

THE IDEA

RE/SIGN is a new initiative by the UK’s leading awarding body for deaf communication, Signature, which leverages dance as a creative means to teach correct BSL.

The lyrics to three trending music tracks (‘Hotter Now’ by Lu Kala, ‘This Is Me’ by Kullah featuring Jessy Covets and ‘Get A Load of Me’ by Kyla Krush) were translated into BSL by BSL Consultant Cherie Gordon. They were then turned into dance challenges choreographed by deaf performers Raffie Julien, Chris Fonseca and Sarah Adedeji. The films were directed by deaf filmmaker, Sam Arnold.

Along with the dances, three tutorials show viewers a step-by-step breakdown of the BSL incorporated into the dance. And additional interview content explained the problem to the hearing 

This campaign was brought to life by a predominantly deaf team and the outcome is an authentic voice from the UK’s deaf community to the hearing community.

The pro-active initiative was sparked when Recipe creative, Youmna Hazzaa, witnessed a deaf person in A&E trying to communicate through sign language to a doctor and not getting anywhere. Seeing first-hand the frustration and experiencing the helplessness made her realise how critical it is for people to have some knowledge of BSL. However, when looking on TikTok to learn, she discovered a proliferation of incorrect sign videos, which inspired the idea of RE/SIGN.

THE RESULTS

This campaign was completely proactive, with zero media spend. Our primary objective was to help raise awareness of the problem and get young people interested in learning BSL, to learn authentically from the deaf community  or qualified teachers.

In the first week of launch, RE/SIGN had a half-page feature in national newspaper The Times. BBC Breakfast News also dedicated a segment to Fake Sign on TikTok, interviewing Jamie Clarke, the England Deaf Football Team captain and Lindsay Foster, executive director of charity Signature.

Our organic content was viewed over 300k times in the first week alone.

Instagram:

• Over 500k organic video plays across RE/SIGN video content, with our launch dance just shy of 100k organic video plays. 

• Monthly organic reach increased by 180% month on month. 

• Organic unique reach surpassed 135k. 

• Significant On Post Engagement across RE/SIGN content with over 9.4k total interactions. 

• 500% increase in account follows, RE/SIGN content accounted for 1,200 new organic followers and 4,4k Instagram visits to our profile, skewed to non-followers. 

TikTok:

• 400% increase in Views (Video) versus monthly averages and over 39k organic (Video) Views. 

• The RE/SIGN campaign accounted for 40% of (to date) account followers. (+538 New Account Followers) 

• RE/SIGN campaign content over-indexed on Engagement and Average Engagement Rate with 1.8k likes across video content and over 140 shares from videos that were distributed on TikTok. 

• 30% increase in Profile Views increased. 

Facebook:

• +250% increase in reach month on month. (Organic) with over 168k unique profiles reached. 

• Over 7.1k Total Interactions. 

• +660 followers acquired organically. 

• +5.7k Facebook visits to our page directly correlated to RE/SIGN campaign content.