Breaking The Brand To Stop the Demand for Rhino Horn in Viet Nam.

The Starting Point

Brands can be both built and broken. The Breaking The Brand project www.breakingthebrand.org is using research from behavioural economics to target the users of rhino horn. We are focusing on the demand and the customer because despite all the incredible work going into the conservation, anti-poaching and legislation side, the poaching rate keeps increasing.

Africa’s and Asia’s rhinos are being wiped out for a useless detox drink and a needless business gift. Escalating demand from a small number of Vietnamese businessmen, who are the primary group, is driving the current rhino killing spree.

Poaching rates have continued to grow and it won’t be until the end of 2015 that we will be able to state definitively if they are still growing exponentially or not. Unofficial figures coming out of South Africa for 2015 indicate growth is probably still exponential. Evidence from other countries in Africa and Asia, for example a recent increase in poaching rates in Namibia, also points towards a continuing exponential increase in demand.

The nature of this demand is new; in the main it is not based on use in traditional medicine or myths such as the aphrodisiac properties of the horn. Instead, the demand is driven primarily by a relatively small number of (newly) wealthy, status conscious males who use rhino horn mixed with water as a supposed detoxifying drink during drinking sessions with colleagues and clients. The people engaged in this practice are not necessarily concerned about the potion’s efficacy. Rather, they are motivated by the perceived status they gain from being part of a very small and exclusive circle who can afford to consume genuine rhino horn. They also give rhino horn as gifts as they negotiate business deals and buy favours. 

From interviews with this user group, and the other primary user group, wealthy women (in many cases the wives of these businessmen), Breaking The Brand found only two factors that would motivate them to stop using rhino horn before it is too late for the rhino:

1.  A potential negative impact on their personal health/wellbeing through using rhino horn
2. A perceived negative impact on their personal status

Our aim is to destroy the current brand of rhino horn in Viet Nam as a 'status enhancing' and 'miracle cure' product. The main uses for rhino horn are as a:

Status symbol in building business networks and negotiating business deals
Detox drink for high-status men after a night of indulgence.
Health supplement for the children and aged parents of affluent Vietnamese women.

Additional Information

我们的项目

资金如何被筹集？

挑战

额外的信息

Your donation will be used to fund the production and roll-out BTBs Third RhiNo Campaign: What does a wildlife criminal look like? You can see a preview of the campaign ads (in English) below:



All adverts have been and will continue to be produced with the creative (and pro-bono) support of Nigel Dawson and Randal Glennon, Co-Directors of Three Wise Men (http://www.three-wise-men.com.au/what-weve-done/pr... Breaking The Brand’s first two RhiNo campaigns tested the health anxiety angle. An ever increasing number of conservancies in Africa are poisoning their rhinos' horns with a variety of toxins and then dye them in bright colours to discourage poaching. Given that the dyes can be bleached out, but the toxins stay in the horn for 3-4 years, there is a risk of exposure to the end consumers which our two campaigns to-date have highlighted to discourage rhino horn use.




Our next campaign will test the status anxiety angle. Attacking the perceived status associated with the use of rhino horn by businessmen and affluent women.

So far we have received donations of $17,000 towards the $30,000 we need. With this Pozible campaign we would like to raise at least $5,000 of remaining $13,000 required.

The campaign funds will be used to publish full-page adverts in key business and lifestyle magazines and in the top selling women’s magazine. This also includes publication in Heritage, the in-flight magazine of Viet Nam Airlines. The publications we have selected ensure the adverts reach the target audience.

If you have any questions about the campaign don’t hesitate to contact BTB at [email protected] If you would like more information on BTB and our past campaigns: http://breakingthebrand.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Breaking-The-Brand-Project-Second-Annual-Report.pdf

We have done two previous campaigns successfully, so we don't foresee any challenges beyond getting through the censorship for print ads in Viet Nam.