Italian soccer club A.S. Roma is not only one of the most famous European football clubs on the planet, they’ve also gained a reputation for their unique and highly entertaining player signing announcements. In 2019, the club wanted to use  their massive social media influence which reaches across multiple countries in some type of meaningful way. So they launched an innovative campaign to bring awareness to the plight of missing children in America and Italy.

For their player signing announcements that summer, they decided that next to the picture of the player being signed, they would also display the picture and information of a child who was currently missing. The hope was that somewhere, someone with information on any of the children would see their picture and call in to share their knowledge.

Partnering with the U.S. based National Center For Missing And Exploited Children (NCMEC) and Telefono Azzurro in Italy, to receive information on missing children registered in their systems, and then share that information during signing day.

Official: Leonardo Spinazzola is now a Roma player.

This summer #ASRoma will use each transfer announcement video on social media to help raise awareness about the search for missing children globally.

@MissingKids ❤️ @telefonoazzurro pic.twitter.com/sy9GheDhsg

— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) June 30, 2019

Both NCMEC and Telefono Azzurro are part of the Global Missing Children’s Network (GMCN) which works with governments and non-profits to find missing and abducted children around the world. Paul Rogers, head of strategy for A.S. Roma, came up with and presented the collaborative idea to NCMEC, who responded with great enthusiasm. Of their reaction, Mr. Rogers says:

 “One of the things they said which struck me was, ‘most brands try to distance themselves from something like this because missing children is a very sensitive subject and maybe you don’t want to be associated with it.’

“We said we wanted to help 100%. We felt that even if no children were found, we could still raise awareness of the cases, the issue of missing children and the organizations doing that work.”

The BBC reported that more than 86,000 children go missing in the U.K. every year. Roma’s campaign featured 120 missing children and viewed over 2 million times. Incredibly, five of the children the campaign highlighted were recovered. Jo Youle, chief executive of Missing Children, had this to say about the campaigns success:

“Roma have been a trailblazer with this and have shown how much impact a football club can have. I hope that it will inspire other clubs to see how much it engages their supporters and makes them proud to be part of a group helping in this way.”

UFFICIALE: Leonardo Spinazzola è un calciatore della Roma

Questa estate l’#ASRoma utilizzerà i video sui social media dedicati ai nuovi acquisti per sensibilizzare l'opinione pubblica sul tema dei bambini scomparsi in tutto il mondo.@telefonoazzurro ❤️ @MissingKids pic.twitter.com/IIf6pShv5d

— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) June 30, 2019

The success of the campaign is largely due to the broad audience Roma reaches. Every time a player is signed, the country where the player is from becomes an audience with a heightened interest in Roma’s promotions. Of the five children found, two were from Kenya, two from London, and one from Belgium.

John Clark, chief executive of NCMEC said:

“NCMEC sees first-hand the importance of not losing hope when it comes to finding a missing child. We know that children come home after days, years, and decades of being missing. We depend on organizations like AS Roma to spread awareness and use their voice for change. We could not be prouder of AS Roma for spreading awareness on a global scale.”

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of missing children in the United States should call the NCMEC on 1-800-843-5678, or submit their details through their cyber tip-line: http://www.missingkids.com/