In the Netherlands, there are over 1.5 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Until 1980, their language, Dutch Sign Language (NGT), was prohibited. The government encouraged deaf people to adapt to the hearing society and learn to lip-read.
We know that TikTok users crave authenticity and have zero patience for intrusive brand messages. To catch their eye, we decided to form alliances with creators they genuinely want to see.
We collected a crew that could authentically communicate our message:
Court; a young performer who is deaf and sign danced’ at the Eurovision song contest. He doesn’t have a big following on social media yet, but he’s a celebrity in the deaf community.
Sor; an award-winning artist who is hard-of-hearing.
Sigourney K; a skilled singer and dancer.
With Sign Dance, our aim was to raise awareness for NGT and spark conversations. On social media. In classrooms. Maybe even in educational boards at schools. And especially between people who – otherwise – would not connect with each other: people who can hear and people who rely on NGT.
As Court would take the spotlight, we gave him the lead in writing the lyrics. He came up with conversation starters to use in everyday life.
With Sor and Sigourney we put it in rhyme. We named it “Body Language” to make a link to NGT and a bit of flirting. The chorus – as featured in the activation.
“Sign language has never been that easy.”
“Learn sign language in the virtual classroom.”
“Music with a mission.”
