WhatsApp x Hearst: Privacy Features Campaign
I designed the core creative assets for a major WhatsApp x Hearst privacy campaign, spanning carousel Meta ads, long-form video graphics, and a Superhero unit across five Hearst titles. The campaign used each publication's editorial voice to connect WhatsApp's privacy features to real moments in people's lives, and my job was to make that feel native to each title while holding the campaign together visually.
Working within WhatsApp's refreshed brand guidelines, I designed two of the three carousel ads, produced motion graphics for five long-form videos, and conceived and built the Superhero unit that ran across the campaign. Each video series was designed to be simple enough that another designer could extend it if the format was commissioned again.
Digital Spy
Digital Spy leaned into fandom, using unpopular film opinions shared in a WhatsApp group chat as the editorial hook. It was the most playful execution in the series, and the design reflected that, looser and more conversational than the other titles while staying within the campaign system.
ELLE
ELLE's content followed music artist ENNY through a studio session with her producer, the two of them exchanging tracks over WhatsApp. The privacy angle came naturally from the creative context, the intimacy of making something before it's ready to be heard. I designed the video graphics and assets to sit within ELLE's visual world while keeping the WhatsApp brand clearly present.
Men's Health
Men's Health took a more direct approach, featuring rugby player James Haskell discussing his podcast and workout content. The disappearing messages and end-to-end encryption features mapped naturally onto the context of sharing professional and personal content online. I designed the graphics to match Men's Health's more functional, high-energy register.
Women's Health
Women's Health followed Malin Andersson through her experience of motherhood, showing how WhatsApp helps her stay connected across the different parts of her life. I designed the assets to feel warm and grounded, in keeping with the title's tone.
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan used its existing Up Close franchise, an interview format already established in the US, with presenter Miquita Oliver. Her references to WhatsApp chats with Lily Allen gave the privacy message a warmth and familiarity that a more product-led approach couldn't have achieved. I adapted the assets to sit within the Up Close visual identity while connecting them back to the wider campaign.
Interactive Superhero
I had creative ownership of the Superhero unit, and I used that to build something that went beyond a standard display format. The concept kept WhatsApp's core campaign message, "what happens in the group chat stays in the group chat," anchored as the main visual presence, while a panel of privacy features sat alongside it. Clicking a feature expanded it into two chat bubbles explaining what it did for the user, a title and a plain-language description written in collaboration with the editor, without displacing the core message. The unit was then adapted into five sizes from wide desktop to mobile.
