The “We Are Sikhs” campaign started by the National Sikh Campaign to spread awareness of the Sikh religion and Sikh Americans nationally throughout the United States has fetched more than 92 million impressions.
Through national and regional television advertising, social media outreach and targeted digital advertising, the effort made over 92 million impressions.
This media campaign, launched in April, was a response to recent statistics that showed Sikhs in America are common targets of discrimination, intimidation, harassment and hate crimes because of their outward physical appearance and a fundamental misunderstanding of the faith and what the turban represents.
Recent poll numbers and media statistics have shown the effectiveness of this entire endeavor of the Sikh community in America.
Dr. Rajwant Singh, Co-Founder and Senior Adviser said, “With limited funding, we were able to spread our message of unity and help Americans in every corner of the country better understand who their Sikh neighbors are and what we stand for.”
Sikhs had hired leading marketing and PR firms. The “We Are Sikhs” messaging and strategy was developed by AKPD, the firm which led President Obama’s famous 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, Hart Research Associates, which does strategy work for the World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Harvard University, and FP1 Strategies, a conservative and Republican leaning marketing team which led President Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaign.
FP1 Strategies has also done marketing for Facebook advocacy efforts and Ford Motor Company.
President Bill Clinton's speech writer planned and edited the content of the website “WeAreSikhs.org.” NSC held fundraising events in 14 cities to garner support from the community and the total cost of this campaign has cost $1.3 million.
Americans and the other communities worldwide consider Sikhs as Muslims due to their attire. The campaign has been spreading the awareness that Sikh religion is different.