Ogilvy UK’s Mayor of London #HaveAWord Campaign Secures £18M Additional Funding

The powerful #HaveAWord campaign for Mayor of London by Ogilvy UK came after a year in which violence against women in London had been much debated, following the murders of women including Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa. By graphically addressing verbal harassment and the bystander behaviour which enables it, the campaign showed that men can play a role in calling out misogyny. The film was launched with a comprehensive media relations campaign, influencer engagement plus billboards, broadcast, social, sports partnerships and even appeared in men’s bathrooms across London, using the hashtag #HaveAWord.

This week, in a further boost to this campaign, London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, assigned £18m of additional funding to tackle the behaviour of perpetrators. The biggest impact has been on men, with 85% of men who heard of the campaign saying they’d call out bad behaviour when they saw it.

“Tell a man they’re a misogynist and they’ll ignore you or punch you.  Give them the tools and confidence to prevent it and they turn into allies.  With the Mayor announcing an extra £18m of funding and McDonalds rolling this out in restaurants, it’s been a big week for our HaveAWord campaign.  And, as of September, it will go into every school in London.  We’re stopping misogyny now, and changing long-term behaviour.  While being awarded in Cannes is a wonderful accolade, the impact this has made on British culture is even more rewarding," said Charlie Coney, Ogilvy UK.

The film was featured on the BBC, Sky, ITV, in The Times, Telegraph, Mail, Express, Standard, Glamour, Cosmo, GQ, was translated into french by Marie Claire, adopted by the United Nations, reported on worldwide, and posted and shared positively on all social platforms generating a total of 3.1b earned impressions. 

The campaign has since rolled out into bars, restaurants, nightclubs, gyms, offices, schools and universities in addition to charities, councils, police forces, and academic institutions across the UK, US, Europe, Australia and Singapore, with campaign posters appearing this week in McDonalds restaurants across London. The campaign has certainly triggered and touched many.