Marketing & Communications Collaboration & Co-Creation

New Nat Geo, P&G Media Platform to ‘ACTIVATE’ Solutions to Global Issues

Nat Geo, P&G, Global Citizen launch storytelling partnership, documentary series to drive action around global challenges connected to extreme poverty

Published 5 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Image: National Geographic

National Geographic and Procter & Gamble have announced ACTIVATE — a multiplatform storytelling partnership and six-part documentary series, co-produced by Global Citizen and RadicalMedia. Premiering globally this fall on National Geographic in 172 countries and 43 languages, the ACTIVATE series — bolstered by custom content distributed across Nat Geo’s vast network of social, digital, linear and print channels — will focus on extreme poverty, inequality and sustainability issues to mobilize global citizens to drive meaningful and lasting change.

Each episode delves into a different issue connected to the root causes of extreme poverty, following a specific Global Citizen campaign and organizers, amplifiers, grassroots activists and the people whose lives are being changed. ACTIVATE episode topics include clean drinking water and sanitation, racial bias and criminalization of poverty, girls’ education, responsible sourcing, plastic waste and disaster relief.

The ACTIVATE series will take audiences from the stage of the Global Citizen Festival to the front lines of change around the world, where work to address issues related to extreme poverty is happening in real and tangible ways through initiatives administered by P&G and Global Citizen. Through the eyes of celebrity activists including Uzo Aduba, Rachel Brosnahan, Hugh Jackman, Gayle King, Usher and Pharrell Williams, viewers will hear the stories, meet the people and witness firsthand the work being done to combat extreme poverty and inspire a global movement.

Along with the documentary series, the multiplatform storytelling partnership will include a 12-page, custom print section for ACTIVATE in the September issue of National Geographic magazine; as well as custom story stretches aligned with each episode, custom digital articles and social media moments for Tide, Always, Charmin and Head & Shoulders — the P&G brands aligned with ACTIVATE. The partnership will also include a digital headquarters for consumers who would like to dive deeper into the six critical issues highlighted in the series, the Global Citizen campaigns connected to each and P&G’s efforts on these topics.

“Over the past 10 years, Global Citizens have campaigned on the most pressing issues facing the world with a shared goal of defeating extreme poverty,” said Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans. “Through our partnership with National Geographic and P&G, we are excited for the first time to be able to share the stories behind the movement and the impact of our advocacy, and encourage viewers in 172 countries to stand up and join the fight.”

The unique partnership is the result of a shared commitment National Geographic, P&G and Global Citizen have made to leverage their collective influence, audience and scale to raise awareness and inspire a global community to take action. Along with Nat Geo’s 130-year history of rich impact storytelling, Global Citizen has been working to defeat extreme poverty through grassroots efforts and citizen engagement for more than 10 years — motivating businesses, organizations and governments to make changes that will have real impact around the world; while P&G has aimed to leverage its brands and its people to make the world a better place by addressing critical issues related to girls’ education, clean drinking water, disaster relief, toxic masculinity and more.

“ACTIVATE is a powerful storytelling platform for P&G brands – Tide, Always, Charmin and Head & Shoulders – to use their voices as a force for good,” said Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer at P&G. “Brands affect nearly every person on the planet, every day, and can be agents of change – individually and collectively. We believe one of the best ways to solve the challenges facing our world is for brands to spark conversations that mobilize people to take action.”

Film crews are already out in the field — in South Africa, the Philippines, Nigeria and Peru — capturing content for the ACTIVATE series; the first episode is slated to air in fall 2019. Keeping in tune with its global platform, the series will also experiment with new content and distribution models, and new ways to mobilize viewers across the world.