Just a Drop creates the longest Twitter thread ever to showcase the importance of access to water

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For most people on this planet access to water is a given and something they never worry about. It’s not something that they wake up feeling thankful for, but the reality is regardless of anyone’s background everyone relies on it. It allows people to do things every day, such as quench their thirst, and keep clean. It also paves the way for the big things too. No one would be able to fulfil their dreams. Without water, no one would be able to look after their families, pursue their passions, make a living or survive.

This World Water Day, Just a Drop, is launching The Walk To The Well - a campaign to raise awareness of how a human’s potential to achieve in life is limited when they don’t have access to clean water. With the help of global agency of record, VCCP London, the charity has created the longest Twitter thread ever made to emulate the length that people in countries like Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, India and Cambodia have to walk every single day, just to get access to water.

In the form of a social media challenge, the campaign will encourage people to do what they do best, scroll. This should come easily as on average people scroll through about 2km of content per day, without even thinking about it and Just a Drop wants to use this behaviour for good.

The Twitter thread will tell the story of Ann’s daily walk to collect water and will take people from her house, on a gruelling journey through physical threats and mental struggles to where she collects water. Ann is from Mwingi West in Kenya, one of many communities Just a Drop is helping to gain access to safe clean water.

The thread will take about an hour to properly scroll through, with the intention being that many people won’t be able to complete it. If people decide to give up scrolling, they will simply like the tweet at the point they’ve reached which will trigger an auto-reply showing the distance they’ve walked. Every participant will be encouraged to retweet or ‘Quote retweet’ their distance, to inspire others into taking our Walk to the Well challenge, too.

To create the film and images Just a Drop and VCCP London used a drone to capture Ann’s 9km walk. The photography created is striking with a varied landscape that is accompanied by a beautifully written typographic story, to keep our scroller’s attention.

VCCP Media has worked with Posterscope and Maxx Media to secure media sites to display the DOOH creative for the campaign which will go live in key conurbations around the UK. The DOOH billboards will feature footage of Ann’s 9km walk and direct people to take on the challenge and donate.

The campaign is also being supported by celebrities including award-winning actor Stanley Tucci, actor and comedian Alexander Armstrong, fashion consultant and TV presenter Gok Wan, singer, Michelle Heaton, wildlife presenter Gordan Buchanan, sailor Tracy Edwards, and presenter Stephen Sackur

Fiona Jeffery OBE, Founder and Chairman of Just A Drop, said: “Having access to clean water can change someone's life, this is why we are working on creating long-term solutions by partnering with communities, supporting and training them. To raise awareness of the work and show how someone’s potential can be limited when their access to water is restricted, we are challenging people to scroll through the longest Twitter thread ever to show how far people need to go. We must all know the value of water.”

Laura Muse, Creative Director at VCCP, added: “It has been a privilege to work on such an important cause and to draw attention to a crisis that is, unfortunately, worsening while we enjoy ever more convenience. This is the type of work we all get in the industry to make. A simple, beautiful idea that will deliver real change for thousands of people."

Just a Drop is the challenger among water charities. It is small and operates more sustainably, for longer periods within communities to ensure the charity delivers long-term, real change to the 771 million people that don’t have access to safe drinking water. This is why the charity wanted to create a campaign that goes further than traditional charity storytelling.

The campaign was made possible by #PoweredByTweets, which is an annual Twitter competition that partners with the creative industry to launch ideas for good across the globe. The winning team receives £100K in Twitter advertising credit and works alongside Twitter to help develop the idea and to make it as successful as possible.

In October VCCP presented an idea for Just a Drop and went up against Uncommon, Grey, Wieden+Kennedy and Fishawack Health, who all had 15 minutes to sell their idea before a Q&A to win the prize.

The campaign will run on social media for a month and will be supported by DOOH, influencers and a PR campaign.