Cartoon Network
Elevating Youth Voice on Bullying and Inclusion
The Challenge
Cartoon Network (CN) launched the Stop Bullying Speak Up (SBSU) Initiative in 2010 to help raise awareness and empower kids to speak up safely and effectively in the face of bullying. By 2017, SBSU had been in the marketplace for seven years and CN wanted to revisit the strategy to ensure that it was still delivering against its business and social goals. Specifically, CN wanted to ensure SBSU was amplifying the CN brand while addressing kids’ experiences with bullying today.
Our Solution
Following marketplace research and expert engagement, Topol Consulting identified an opportunity for SBSU to expand its work to address bullying prevention, in addition to its intervention work. This meant engaging kids around topics like kindness, empathy and inclusion, issues that were top of mind for parents and educators. To ensure the resulting campaign reflected youth voice and perspective, Topol Consulting facilitated research conducted in consultation with the Making Caring Common Project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The results were used to inform campaign execution, as well as to engage media and thought leaders in a new conversation around bullying.
The Impact
Cartoon Network updated the SBSU mission statement to include a focus on bullying prevention, and developed a campaign focused on creating inclusive communities called Include Someone, Make a Difference. The campaign messaging leveraged insights from the kid-focused research and was bolstered by partnerships with leading nonprofit organizations, PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center and 826 National. Topol Consulting continues to help guide CN’s strategic direction and execution of SBSU.
