Flow Communications

How #MyCovidStorySA is helping South Africans create a collective online journal

29 May 2020 — Christina Kennedy

From enjoying lockdown cuddles with the kids, to appreciating “the little things that bring beauty and peacefulness to every day”, South Africans have been sharing their everyday #MyCovidStorySA joys (and, sometimes, hardships) during the Covid-19 pandemic.

And Flow Communications is proud to have been part of this important and potentially era-defining campaign, run by Constitution Hill.

Constitution Hill is one of South Africa’s most iconic – and historically significant – landmarks. Once an apartheid-era jail and military fort, it stands today as a powerful monument to a painful past. As importantly, the building has been reinvented as an inspiring ode to democracy and justice, as the seat of the Constitutional Court.

This living museum may be closed to the public for now, but its work to document and preserve history in the making continues unabated – and takes on a new significance during this unprecedented time.

As a custodian of our past and present, Constitution Hill has set out to harvest stories of life in South Africa during the Covid-19 pandemic, as experienced by a cross-section of society. These accounts are being stored in a Covid-19 Digital Archive, as a snapshot of this time. It’s also hoped that once the museum is able to reopen, a curated exhibition of selected submissions will be held.

But how to bring such a broad and wide-ranging concept to life in the crowded digital space? Enter Flow, which came on board with an intensive, targeted two-week social media campaign to promote interest in #MyCovidStorySA, drive submissions and generally create a buzz online.

In late April and early May, we went in at full throttle with a basket of daily “themes”, ranging from cooking and homeschooling to job security and gratitude, to spur South Africans to share their experiences with us, using the hashtag #MyCovidStorySA.

Run across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the campaign came to life with beautiful static and animated artwork courtesy of Flow graphic designer Nicole Ellis.

Day06 Twitter
Day11 Twitter

It elicited wide-ranging responses, from social media influencers with upwards of a million followers (who lent their support pro bono) to everyday South Africans trying to process this strange new normal.

The campaign performed well, with people generously sharing their comments, photos and videos on social media, and uploading long-form stories to the ConHill website. The campaign posts reached an impressive 3.8-million people and clocked up 15.6-million impressions, attracting more followers to the ConHill platforms at the same time.

Key to the #MyCovidStorySA’s success and engagement were the designed visuals and “theme per day”, generating excitement and anticipation on social media and allowing the content to stand out.

Here’s what Constitution Hill’s marketing and communications manager, Janine Muthusamy, had to say: “There are not enough thank yous in the universe for the assistance Flow has provided in making this campaign a reality and a rousing success! Massive thanks to both you and your team.”

Constitution Hill CEO Dawn Robertson added: “Wow, great – so grateful to you guys. The last few weeks speak volumes of your company and team.”

The Flow team, for our part, loved being part of such an important historical project! You can continue making your #MyCovidStorySA submissions via the Constitution Hill website – share your experiences and have a say in creating a virtual journal of this time.

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