Social Media Spotlight - Alice More O'Ferrall
We’re really excited about this weeks Social Media Spotlight Interview. Alice More O’Ferrall, Acting Head of Global Digital for WWF International, is overseeing 90 countries and is responsible for the global WWF digital strategy. We don’t even know how she’s found time to talk to us, but we’re truly grateful she has.
Alice is also speaking at SocialDay Festival 2020 on day one. So here’s a taster of what’s to come:
Tell us about your history in marketing. How have you come to be the Acting head of Global Digital for WWF International?:
Before WWF I worked in marketing across a variety of industries including FMCG and Capital Radio. I studied for my post-graduate diploma in marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing whilst working. This was great for a couple of reasons - one that I could apply the theory in practice and the other, most important one, was the organisation I worked for helped fund the course.
Digital marketing and social media weren't around when I began my career. I was keenly aware that it would be easy to get left behind if I didn't embrace what I could see was going to be a crucial change in the way we communicate. For that reason I left the organisation I was working with for a digital agency and was instrumental in the launch of Adobe Creative Cloud in the UK.
From there I ran my own social and digital agency for a while before seeing the opportunity to head up social media for WWF-UK. I folded my agency when I was successful with my application, spent 2 years growing the national social channels before moving to WWF International in December 2016. I'm currently Acting Head of Global Digital with a focus on social media to our 11.6 million followers.
What does your role entail? It must be very busy managing 90 countries:
Much of my role is spent on Zoom calls with our offices around the world. I couldn't do my job without Zoom or the GSuite!
Being responsible for the social strategy for our global channels, as well as overseeing and supporting our smaller country offices, keeps me very busy.
We've got a pretty small team at International and are spread across timezones so time management is hugely important. The most amazing thing about my job is that even on really tough days, I know I'm making a difference - however small that might be.
What are your main aims and objectives at WWF? And how will you use digital and social media to help achieve these?:
2020 is a crucial year for our planet. There are some key meetings of world and business leaders taking place where we absolutely need the commitment to reverse nature loss and the climate crisis and set our planet on a path to recovery. We have launched an online platform for the general public to add their voice so that world leaders can see how much we all care. People can head to panda.org/voice and share with the hashtag #voicefortheplanet.
Do you think social media has positively impacted on the work that you do? If so, how?:
Absolutely. Social media gives everyone a chance to participate and share information. We can gauge people's interest in our different fields of work and ensure that we're focused on the things that matter so we can effect real change.
Our approach to telling our stories on social media is to take people on a journey - from awe at the wonders of the world, to awareness of the issues our planet is facing, to action where they can make a difference.
What challenges do you face within your role?:
Time zones can be a challenge. For instance, we recently launched a global emergency appeal for the Australian bush fires. Given the recent issues in the Amazon, we wanted to get our Brazil-based team involved with the Australia campaign so we could learn from what had happened there. However, because of time zones, everything had to take a bit longer while we waited for responses, given the global location of the 2 countries.
You said previously that you are trying to get nature to be higher on the agenda for governments and businesses, will social media play a role in achieving that?:
We have different paths to reach government and business audiences including advocacy, the media, face to face meetings and attending large conferences. However, social media does have a large part to play as government and businesses need voters and customers, respectively.
Anyone can contact their country leaders and top businesses via social media and demand a change in their practices if they are harming the planet. It's hard for leaders to ignore social media, as we've seen with the Greta Thunberg effect and the rise of Extinction Rebellion.
What's been your best WWF digital success story to date and why?:
I'm really proud of so many of our campaigns but the stand-out one for me has to be #StopPlasticPollution. To date, people who signed up to the petition have sent over 1.6 million emails to world leaders around the globe demanding they stop plastic entering the ocean. The campaign won a digital excellence award just before Christmas and we're seeing real change in countries as they respond to public opinion.
What advice and tips can you give our readers on how they can have a positive impact on the environment and help WWF?:
Being thoughtful about how and where you spend your money is a good place to start at an individual level. Does your bank invest in fossil fuels, is your food coming from thousands of miles away, have your clothes and cleaning products been produced responsibly? Taking some time to look at consumption really helps.
Also contacting your government representatives and business leaders to demand better practices and more transparency in their operations is really helpful. We created a sustainable swaps challenge which I hope your readers will find useful - https://lp.panda.org/sustainableswaps
Finally, what would you like the future of digital/social media to be?:
In an ideal world, I would like the giant tech companies to take more responsibility when it comes to the mental health of people using their platforms. There are many ways they can do this and they are aware of them - there just seems to be no desire on their part to implement the changes needed.
I think they have a duty of care to us but we also have to look after each other. I would dearly love to see people behave with dignity and respect in both the digital and real-world and understand that we're all connected and more alike than we realise. I'd like the future of digital and social to unite us, not divide us.
Want to connect with Alice?: