I was doing some research in Silicon Valley,
on how large companies report
corporate social responsability issues.
One afternoon I went to an exhibition at a cultural center in Berkeley
where Chris Jordan and Manuel Maqueda
where presenting their project against the use of plastic.
They showed a picture of a bird that died from plastic intake.
I was shocked.
I had the chance to talk to them later
and they told me they were raising awareness.
2 millions of people were already following them
and they got to change regulations in over 70 American cities.
It is a great example of social mobilisation
on environmental issues
so we had to do some research about it.
Nobody has the key to success
on social campaigns, on social media.
But we know what has worked for Manuel and Chris.
So we have proposed a theoretical framework
to help us understand how they are making it
and make some generalisations on how to improve.
Our project defines three keys to success:
One: recognize the opportunity.
Two: define a clear message.
And three: move the audience.
We have been analysing social media for three years.
By combining both quantitative and qualitative methods.
By analysing Facebook posts
from all these cultural entrepreneurs.
And seeing how they explain it, how they get to move people,
how they use these images to convince people
to change and reject plastic.