UCD Dignity and Respect Campaign

All members of the University College Dublin community have the right to study or work in an environment free from bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct. We worked with UCD to develop a communications campaign, designed to make community members aware of issues that can lead to harassment, bullying, sexual misconduct and sexual violence, and change the culture and behaviours. The campaign needed to utilise multiple channels including social media, website banners, posters and building banners.

CAMPAIGN CONCEPT — We conducted extensive research and consultation with many departments in UCD. The campaign needed to be inclusive and reach a wide audience, and it needed to have a strong call to action – something the audience can do to show their engagement in the campaign. The UCD team developed a Dignity and Respect online training, with tailored training offerings for students and staff, and our call to action for the campaign was to complete the training. We wanted to create a rallying call to everyone opposed to abusive behaviour, to clearly outline the exact behaviours in question, and to engage with every subset of the UCD population. The result was the Not In Our UCD campaign. We created a copywriting device that called out specific behaviours, from bullying to harassment. We also adapted our communications approach when speaking to employee and student audiences.

PHOTOGRAPHY — We developed an approach to photography that would allow us to capture a wide range of positive and negative interactions and behaviours. We created high contrast, black and white images, with models cropped in a way to keep them anonymous, and used a diverse range of models that represented both students and employees. In addition to still photography, we captured video footage which demonstrates the negative behaviours the campaign was calling out. The photography and video was applied to the creative to produce content that was effective across social and digital media platforms as well as in print and signage.

CAMPAIGN ROLL OUT — To assist in the rollout of the campaign across the UCD campus and online channels, we developed a 2 year integrated campaign strategy. The strategy followed a trimester timeline, and included the campaign core messages, support messages, calls to action, as well as copy for each of the 10 discrimination grounds. The strategy covered multiple campaign channels, including social media, digital (e.g. websites, info hubs and newsletters), print (e.g. banners and posters) and campaign activations (e.g. on campus activities and student ambassadors). We mapped out campaign initiatives on a monthly basis, resulting in a detailed roadmap of how the campaign will progress. We delivered campaign artwork for library colonnades, bins, walkway pillars, banners and stickers, as well as a bank of social and digital assets.

IMPACT — The campaign was launched and rolled out across campus in September 2022. As of 3 months after the campaign launch, more than 3,500 students have signed up for the Dignity & Respect training. The toolkit and resources are being used by departments throughout UCD, and the campaign will continue to be promoted both on and off campus for the next 2 years.