The One Love Foundation
Valentine’s Day & Yards for Yeardley
Campaign 2021
The One Love Foundation was founded in honor of Yeardley Love, a 22-year old college student who was tragically killed by her ex-boyfriend. The non-profit organization educates young adults on signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships, while empowering them to identify abuse and learn how to love better.
As a team of 10, we developed a media outreach strategy and two online events (Yoga for Yeardley & a Panel Discussion featuring two psychologists) to raise money for Foundation and gain media coverage for their new “Love is Learned” campaign.
Goals
Fundraise for The One Love Foundation through events and word-of-mouth
Maximize The One Love Foundation’s exposure through media outreach
Increase awareness of the signs of unhealthy relationships and reduce teen violence in the DMV
Strategy
Focused on local media (DMV area) by reaching out to high schools, school counselors, high school media publications, and college student media. We pitched relevant talking points in February (Dating Violence Awareness Month) and April (Sexual Assault Awareness Month).
Results
The One Love Foundation was featured on NBC4 Washington with over 5 million impressions. We also landed an audio PSA on DC’s WTOP radio station. The Yoga for Yeardley event raised around $800.
Pitching Media
I reached out to high schools, college newspapers, TV studios, news stations, bloggers, and many other partners with large reach in the DMV area. Ex. The Eagle (AU), The Hatchet (GW), NBC4 Washington, Rockville High School Rampage, & more.
I also contacted school counselors and administrators to spread the word about the 2021 Allstate Foundation Film Fellowship and One Love Workshops and Education Center.
Pitching Schools
We targeted college and high school sports teams, newspapers, magazines, student unions, radio stations and Greek-life organizations.
130 schools, 30 school contacts, 35 school media organizations, 20+ local organizations, One Love Foundation Educators, Washington-Liberty High School PTA in Arlington, VA - 2,135 students.
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
One Love Launches The New Love is Learned Campaign During Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month
NEW YORK, N.Y – One Love Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to educating teenagers about the healthy and unhealthy signs in a relationship, launched its new campaign Love is Learned, aimed at spreading awareness on abusive relationships while highlighting diversity during the month of love.
Teen dating violence affects millions of teens in the United States each year. About 1 in 9 female and 1 in 36 male high school students reported having experienced sexual dating violence in the last year. The statistics, however, are not shared equally across all groups– sexual, racial, and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by violence in relationships.
This campaign, directed by Kristian Mercado and produced by Not To Scale, showcases the diversity of love that exists and provides a safe space to engage in conversations with one another as they navigate their relationships. “We want Gen Z to be the first to gain the skills and understanding to have successful relationships at every stage and in every facet of their lives,” said One Love CEO Katie Hood.
The campaign features entertaining short films that depict how teenagers should act in a healthy relationship, and each character was created to represent a spectrum of identities. The underlying message is that we grew up learning that love was a feeling; when the truth is that love is learned.
“It’s a film that focuses on the small moments that connect us and where love blossoms.” said Kris Mercado, director at Not To Scale. “All the while, it was important to push the boundaries of representation especially in the realm of showing the possibilities of love and using mixed media as a means to communicate a range of identities felt unique and like an opportunity to connect genuinely to the audience we want to reach.”
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