The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2024-2025
Kompas' MANTRA of Hope: a whispered mantra turns a phone into court-ready evidence
When a survivor speaks her chosen mantra, the app silently records audio and uneditable metadata, giving Indonesian courts the proof of non-consent they lack.
Kompas Gramedia Group (Harian Kompas) · dentsu Indonesia
What it had to solve
In Indonesia, 9 out of 10 sexual assault cases remain unresolved because survivors cannot prove non-consent, and complainants can even face defamation charges. Harian Kompas and dentsu Indonesia wanted to help survivors seek justice instead of just raising awareness.
How it works
In Indonesia, 9 out of 10 sexual assault cases remain unresolved because survivors cannot prove non-consent; even physical evidence can expose complainants to defamation complaints, and victim-blaming pushes many to stay silent. Dentsu Indonesia and Harian Kompas - one of the country's largest media groups - set out to remove the barrier between survivors and justice.
Their answer was MANTRA of Hope, an app built with audio technologists. A survivor first records a personalised mantra, her own chosen words of rejection. If she later speaks that phrase during an incident, the app silently starts capturing audio through the phone's backend and attaches unedited metadata - date, time and location - strengthening her testimony if she chooses to report.
The rollout used podcasts, digital news and social media, enlisting legal experts, activists and survivors to advocate for the app. The campaign earned more than IDR 31 billion in media value and 42+ million impressions, with over 1,000 downloads in its early phase. The work won Gold in the Mobile Lotus and Silver in Technology at ADFEST 2025, multiple Silvers and Bronzes at Citra Pariwara 2024, and was shortlisted at Spikes Asia.
Why it lands
- It solved the actual reason cases die - missing evidence of non-consent - rather than adding another awareness plea.
- It was designed for the moment of danger: no visible buttons or prompts, just a mantra that quietly starts a secure recording.
- The insight came from the client's own asset, Harian Kompas's journalistic archives, plus work with criminal lawyers, so the tool was built backward from what courts need.
- It turned a newspaper brand into a practical safety product, giving the campaign credibility, reach and a reason to exist beyond the launch.
What it did
The initiative generated more than IDR 31 billion in earned media value and 42+ million impressions, with over 1,000 app downloads in the early phase. It took Gold (Mobile Lotus) and Silver (Technology) at ADFEST 2025, Silvers and Bronzes at Citra Pariwara 2024, and shortlists at Spikes Asia.
What you can take
Find the point where cases actually fail, not where awareness is low. A discreet tool that captures admissible proof turns a media brand into a lifeline.
Since then
MANTRA of Hope gave Indonesian survivors a legally minded way to document an incident and was endorsed in coverage by legal experts who said such evidence strengthens testimony in court. For Kompas Gramedia it demonstrated how a media group can ship a civic-tech product, and for dentsu Indonesia it became a flagship case carried through ADFEST 2025, Citra Pariwara 2024 and Spikes Asia recognition.
Sources
- MANTRA of Hope - ADFEST 2025 winner detail (Mobile Lotus, Gold)
- ADFEST 2025: Day 1 Lotus Winners Announced
- Harian Kompas Empowers Sexual Assault Survivors with 'Mantra of Hope'
- Dentsu Indonesia and Harian Kompas empower sexual assault survivors with 'MANTRA of Hope'
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