2016 Winners & Shortlists

STORY FOR CHELA

BrandSTART A LIBRARY
Product/ServiceBOOKS
EntrantSQUAD DIGITAL Nairobi, KENYA
CategoryCorporate Responsibility
Entrant Company SQUAD DIGITAL Nairobi, KENYA
Advertising Agency SQUAD DIGITAL Nairobi, KENYA

The Campaign

Imagination and creativity have inspired dreams that have built great nations & innovation. A UWEZO report by a non-governmental stated that pupils enrolled in class 7, two in ten do not have class 2 literacy and numeracy competencies. With only 2% of our primary schools with libraries, Kenya’s future dreamers were slowly diminishing. We needed to create awareness of the literacy problem and drive fund collection to build 100 libraries. A teaser campaign “#girlinPinkBoots” launched to create awareness and conversation of a girl who needed help. We inviting the public to spot and share campaign posters we strategically placed in high traffic areas. A week later the campaign #storyforchela was launched, the public got introduced to Chela, a girl on a mission to create awareness and raise funds. The publics were invited to contribute to Chelas’ story after which donating money equivalent to words contributed. We got organic endorsements from key local & international personalities & brands plus free media coverage from the largest media groups in Kenya. With information from start a library, one book will have been read by a minimum of 20 children in its lifespan. This meant that over 2,000,000 children have been impacted by this campaign powered by over Kes 9million funds raised. The first ever co-authored book by a nation was written and is set to be published in next couple of months and will be distributed in all the libraries in the country giving hope to future Kenyan dreamers.

The Brief

The campaign was to create awareness highlighting the literacy levels at a national level, help fundraise money needed to build 100 libraries in the country and encourage reading culture of storybooks by the children. The UK’s Department for Education in its research on reading for pleasure cites evidence that shows that indeed reading for pleasure enhances both the child’s educational excellence as well as personal development.

Execution

As a teaser we run a hash tag #girlInPinkBoots for a week inviting the public to spot and share Campaign posters that we had strategically placed in high traffic area such as malls & streets. Influencers (bloggers, photographers on instagram) to joined in the campaign and help popularizes #girlInPinkBoots that carried the conversations that lead one to a microsite with countdown of when the girl in pink boots would arrive. A Gala dinner to launch the campaign storyforchela was held a week later. The campaign microsite was launched & the public got introduced to the ‘girl in pink boots’ Chela who was in a mission to create awareness and raise money. The public contributed by writing a story for Chela after which donating money equivalent to words contributed. Our target was to get the first ever co-authored book by a nation as we raised money to build libraries.

We got organic endorsements from key local & international personalities & brands some of who were Miss Obama, British High commissioner Dr Christian Turner, Former CNN news anchor Jeff Koinange. We also got free media coverage from the largest media groups in Kenya, Nation Media & Citizen. With information from start a library, one book will have been read by a minimum of 20 children in its lifespan. This meant that over 2,000,000 children would have access to printed physical storybooks and be impacted by this campaign powered by over 9 million funds raised. The first ever co-authored book by a nation was written and is set to be published in next couple of months and will be distributed in all the libraries in the country. The campaign was possible with only a budget of $15,000 but the gain in giving hope to future Kenyan dreamers made it priceless.

The Strategy

Book reading is a right for every child. We created a movement for the children by the children led by one of their own, a little girl in pink boots called Chela. Campaign “Story for Chela” was born; its goal was to inform the parents that the reason the children could not read was because they did not have storybooks. The movement’s purpose was to demand for their right, this would intern raise the needed money to build the libraries across the country. Our target audience was every Kenyan with the ability to tell a story for the sake of their children.

Credits

Name Company Role
Philip Ranja Squad Digital Executive Creative Director
Angela Njagi Squad Digital Copywriter
Jacqueline Njeri Squad Digital Graphic Designer
Brian Koyoo Squad Digital Senior Copy writer/Community Manager
Fredrick Oloo Squad Digital Account Manager
John Nguru Squad Digital Back end Developer
Leison Njenga Squad Digital Front End Developer
Manish Sardana Squad Digital Managing Director/Creative Director
Gaurav Singh Squad Digital Cheif Digital Officer
Henry Ngari Squad Digital Art Director
Anna Ogutogullari Squad Digital Business Director
Jansen Omoro Squad Digital Video Editor