How To... Be a Creative Force for Good

I believe we must never take for granted the important role agencies can play to make a difference for good causes.

I’m fortunate to work at an agency which aims to be a force for good – be it tackling homelessness with The Big Issue, challenging illiteracy with Pearson or helping the world’s most vulnerable children with Barnardo’s

Earlier this year I was tasked with creating new pathways for girls in Rwanda. Ni Nyampinga is Rwanda’s first youth brand, developed five years ago by the charity Girl Effect. It is created by girls for girls so has its own natural energy; it uses the semiotics of the Rwandan visual language to add deeper meaning and connection. Here are five lessons I learned along the way.

Listen, listen and listen

Approach the project with an open mind. All the usual rules are off and you may find the key to an amazing insight or campaign creative in the most unlikely of places. Often with pro bono clients and projects, the work has to be much more flexible – go further, so you’ll need real resonance.
Embedded cultural beliefs expect girls to have little more aspiration than being a good daughter, good wife and good mother. Without wider community understanding that girls can achieve and be so much more, pathways for girls simply won’t change.

Our job was to spread the word beyond the girls themselves, and shift the country’s understanding of girls’ potential. Rwanda has become a hugely progressive country. We wanted to tap into this ambition, and position girls as changemakers. Our insight was to draw a direct parallel between girls’ prosperity and the prosperity of the nation. This became Turamurika: meaning 'Together we rise'.

Understand your playing field and the rules of the game – then play.

In terms of getting these stories out to a mass audience, we had to take an entirely different approach. Rwanda is 87% rural, internet access is less than 10%, and there is almost no mass media. OOH and radio are key, however used in very different ways. Both are more long form, storytelling media - so we produced copy-heavy posters and spots that would never have been seen as viable in the UK. We also faced serious challenges between the sentiments we wanted to portray and the literal translation from English into Kinyarwanda.

We worked very closely with the Ni Nyampinga team and girls themselves to nail the right phrases and stories that resonated with our audience.
With Turamurika our challenge was clear to see – how to communicate at scale when the tools we all reach for so easily in the UK are not to hand, and those that are available are read in an entirely different way. We had to create movement within the actual community. Yet what remains universal is the human need and resonance with story telling.

Reacquaint yourself with the real meaning of ‘agile’

Collaboration is key when it comes to pro bono projects, it’s a very different dynamic and client/agency relationship. We became a single team: client and agency alike. There was no hierarchy and certainly no room for egos, just everyone coming together in a shared vision and goal. Due to time, financial and other pressures, you have to be more on-point, and spin many plates.

A key team of three (account handling, strategy and creative) spearheaded the project, to gain insights and pinpoint solutions at speed. Mini-agency musketeers if you like! We went to Rwanda twice to fully immerse ourselves and gain vital on-the-ground understanding of the country, girls and communities. It goes without saying that it was an amazing experience
and made all the difference; planting a seed that went on to become the campaign thought ‘Together we rise’.

Share the story, process and learnings and everyone benefits

We’re lucky to have had a few of these types of projects under our roof at FCB Inferno and they bring about so many benefits to the agency. From different ways of working, to the passion and excitement because what you’re doing is changing lives - which feels truly amazing.
The vibe changes when we do work for good causes. There is a communal swelling with pride, as our ability to make a difference in such a meaningful way is something everyone feels. Our work in this area is also pays dividends by bringing more talent to us.

Ultimately, more agencies in the creative industry should be taking on work for good causes to show that we are advertisers with a heart and putting our powers to good.