More than half the global population now uses social media according to Smart Insights. The company’s October 2021 Global Snapshot reveals that 4.55 billion people now use social media with 400 million new users coming online in the last 12 months.

Against this backdrop, in recent years, social media influencers have grown in number and influence across a variety of platforms, including visual media outlets like YouTube and Instagram. Indeed, social media influencers have emerged as a key vector for reaching new audiences by campaign leaders. These often-youthful influencers typically create a tight bond with their dedicated followers, which enables them to effect behavioral change. Ultimately, this is the goal of the 2022 World Intellectual Property Day Campaign: To convince the world's young people that IP can help them realize their aspirations to innovate for a better future.

An opportunity to amplify reach and engagement

There is an opportunity to expand the impact of the 2022 World IP Day campaign by engaging with and leveraging the support of the growing number of powerful youth influencers. This promises to make it possible to reach out to new audiences and to:

  • Amplify key campaign messages;
  • Stimulate a conversation around IP rights and how they can benefit young inventors/creators/entrepreneurs;
  • Strengthen the credibility and reach of the campaign.

A two-pronged strategy

We propose a two-pronged approach, as follows:

  1. engage influencers with an expert knowledge of IP and/or who are active in areas and on platforms related to the goals and primary audiences of the World Intellectual Property Day 2022 campaign. Influencers in this category typically have between 1k and 40k followers, and may include (young) writers, musicians, artists, journalists, innovators, entrepreneurs and others who already are actively engaging with IP or who are adjacent to the IP system.
  2. engage with influencers who are not necessarily IP experts but who are connected with primary target audiences (e.g. entrepreneurs, youth), and who typically have a larger following. Influencers in this category may not be in a position to get into the details of IP, but they can help draw attention to the campaign, its key messages and initiatives.

Calls to action for social media influencers to

  • Announce that World IP Day is upcoming (April 26) and invite your followers to check out the World IP Day 2022 web pages, using the #WorldIPDay hashtag.
  • Encourage young people to take part in the World IP Day Youth Video Competition.
  • Cover a range of IP and youth-related themes relevant to your country or region.
  • Talk about the young inventors, creators, entrepreneurs you are interested in/follow/admire as well as those featured on the World IP Day Youth Gallery who are driving positive economic, environmental and social change through IP-backed innovation.
  • Encourage your followers to participate in World IP Day events and/or organize their own events, and to post details of these on the World IP Day Events Calendar, which will go live in March 2022.

Guest posts

Why not offer to submit a guest post on IP and youth-related issues or activities and/or key campaign messages (see World Intellectual Property Day 2022 – Promotion Toolkit)?

Example document

Other guidelines

ipday2020_toolkit_845