To ensure the importance of Remembrance Day is preserved in the era of constant connectedness, we modernized the 100-year-old tradition at its core and created the Online Moment of Silence. Our microsite enabled people to extend the moment of silence to their social channels, which also served to remind anyone scanning social media of the significance of this solemn memorial.

Challenge

The first moment of silence was held on November 11th, 1918, and it has been an important part of Remembrance Day ceremonies ever since. Unfortunately, the relevance of this once universally observed tribute has been eroded by today’s culture of smartphones, social media and constant connectedness. Remembrance Day was slowly being forgotten, so the Royal Canadian Legion set out to remind young Canadians (15 - 35 year olds) that it still mattered.

The Online Moment Of Silence Website
https://onlinemomentofsilence.com/home

Insights

Social media has dramatically changed the way younger generations connect with causes. The Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements, along with many others, have proved that these connections are more than lip service — they are capable of creating real change. Instead of seeing social media as something that was taking attention away from Remembrance Day, we saw it as a way of bringing more attention to it and everything it stands for.

This left us with a huge challenge to overcome: how do you leverage the power of social media while encouraging people to disconnect from it and pay their respects?

Storyboard showing desired content feed with animations. New copy fading in as old fades out — Storyboard page 1

Storyboard continuing desired content feed animations. More of the same with a video fading in, playing and then fading out — Storyboard page 2

Storyboard finishing the desired content feed animation, ending with hero image and title: Moment of Silence — Storyboard page 3

Solution

To solve this problem, we modernized the 100-year-old tradition at the core of Remembrance Day and created the Online Moment of Silence. In October of 2017, we launched a microsite OnlineMomentOfSilence.com that enabled people to schedule blank or “silent” posts to their social feeds for 11:00am on Remembrance Day. This enabled people to show their support by extending the moment of silence to their social channels, while also serving as a reminder of the importance of Remembrance Day to anyone absently scanning social media during this solemn memorial.

Desktop open to wireframe of a form to 'Share Your Silence'

Desktop and mobile device open to the Moment of Silence homepage

To help the Online Moment of Silence gain traction amongst our target audience, we created a focused PR campaign that engaged prominent social influencers and national media outlets in the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day. This ensured the initiative had enough time and exposure to build momentum, so its impact would be maximized during the 2017 and 2018 moment of silence.

Mobile device and two different sized browsers showing a responsive thank you page

Results

At 11:00am on November 11th, 2017, the first Online Moment of Silence was held. Prominent influencers such as the Toronto Raptors, the Vancouver Whitecaps, Trish Stratus and even William Shatner went silent, as did thousands of Canadians across the country. #ShareYourSilence trended in Canada, and the Online Moment of Silence ensured Remembrance Day was more relevant than ever.