WWF Taps Those With Nearly Extinct Family Names To Save Nearly Extinct Tigers

Coming to the aid of the 3,200 tigers left in the wild, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), with help from the Famous Brussels agency, launched a campaign that tied the potential extinction of tigers to the potential extinction of family names in Belgium.

Apparently, more than 30% of Belgian family names are becoming extinct. In light of this, the WWF launched “Families on the Verge of Extinction Save A Family on the Verge of Extinction.”

Central to the campaign is a website on which Belgians can search their family name to determine how many are left in the country. The site encourages people to donate to the WWF cause and adopt a tiger which involves signing up for an ongoing monthly donation.

The WWF also teamed with famous Belgians who had a family name on the verge of extinction. These well-known celebrities created online videos that were posted to social media to urge others with potentially extinct family names to take part in the campaign.

These famous Belgians were also sent personalized campaign t-shirts which they posted online.

A direct mail component reached out to the Belgian families with the rarest names explaining how they could join the campaign as well.

Many Belgians shared their family name extinction status on Facebook and Twitter as well as discussing it on radio and TV shows.

Within one hour of launch, the campaign became the number one trending topic in the country reaching 1 out of 3 Belgians on social media. In two weeks, the campaign generated more online donations than WWF Belgium typically receives annually.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Steve Hall

Steve Hall is a marketing professional, publisher, writer, community manager, photographer and all-around lover of advertising.