The Last Word

How we helped WWF save an entire species from extinction with a single word.

In Chinese, the word for ivory (象牙) translates to ‘Elephant Tooth’, leading to a widespread misconception that ivory is just an elephant's tooth and can fall off naturally or be removed without killing the animal.

We decided to change the language to help ban the ivory trade in Hong Kong.

  • Hong Kong is the world capital of the ivory trade.

    The main buyers of Hong Kong's ‘legal’ ivory come from China, but most don't understand the real cost of these products.

    We needed to change Chinese perception of ivory, and put pressure on our government to ban the trade in order to save African elephants from going extinct in the next 10 years.

  • 70% of Chinese consumers are unaware that ivory comes from dead elephants.

    A 2011 study by the International Fund for Animal Welfare shook our understanding of the ivory market, showing that most Chinese consumers are completely unaware of the trade's impact. Most thought that the tusks could be removed without killing the animal.

  • We set off to replace the old Chinese character for ivory with a new one, crowdsourced and selected to accurately tell the story of the ivory trade.

    Our online platform allowed users to hand-draw and submit a new Chinese character along with their petition signature. In parallel, our outreach team brought the campaign into school curriculums.

    Finally, an academic panel of Chinese linguistic experts was assembled to help us select a new word for ‘ivory’. The new character used elements of ‘elephant’ and ‘heart’, clearly conveying the link between tusk and life.

Every creation was a signature.

Our online platform allowed users to hand-draw a new Chinese character on the spot while signing the petition.

School outreach with Guo Jing Jing (Olympic Champion/WWF Ambassador)

We received over 7,000 character submissions.

An expert panel chose the best character for ‘ivory’.

The results

When the city’s legislative council met to discuss the ivory trade, we handed 66,159 signatures to Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, CY Leung. On that day, Hong Kong banned the ivory trade.

Case Study

 

Case Board

Agency – Geometry Global + Ogilvy
Creative Idea & Execution – Jay Lee & Anastasia Simone

Awards

  • Finalist
    Pr – Sectors – Charity and Not-for-Profit

  • Finalist
    PR – Public Affairs

  • Silver
    PR – Public Affairs & Lobbying

    Silver
    PR – Charities, Public Health & Safety, Public Awareness Messages

  • Grand Prix
    Best Campaign in Asia

    Blue Dragon
    Best Campaign by a Hong Kong Agency

    Gold Dragon
    Best Integrated Campaign

    Silver Dragon
    Best Use of Public Relations

    Silver Dragon
    Best Cause, Charity Marketing, or Public Sector Campaign

    Bronze Dragon
    Best Mobile Marketing Campaign

    Black Dragon
    Best Use of Media

  • Gold
    Nonprofit Campaign of the Year

    Gold
    Public Education Campaign of the Year

  • Gold
    Public Services

    Gold
    Public Awareness

  • Gold
    PR, Cause-Related Public Services

  • Silver
    Best Campaign in Public and Not-For-Profit Sector

  • Bronze
    Best Idea: Corporate Social Responsibility

  • Ranked #29

  • Medalist
    Not-for-Profit

    Medalist
    Best Integrated Campaign

  • Finalist
    Cyber: Co-Creation & User-Generated Content

    Finalist
    Cyber: Social Purpose

  • Finalist
    Brand Experience

    Finalist
    Good Works

  • Finalist

  • Best Example of a Pivotal Idea
    Geometry Global

  • Medalist

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