An adventure in Recife
April 2010
Working for a fantastic cause
Grupo Ruas e Praças (GRP)
Empowering children & adolescents living on the streets of Recife through an educational process of street learning.
tŽƌŬŝŶŐ ƚŽ ƐƚŝŵƵůĂƚĞ ĐŚŝůĚƌĞŶ͛Ɛ ƐĞůĨ-‐ determination, dreams & wishes, to help them construct a new life.
Methodology is reference for public policies towards children, adolescents & their families.
Working on a big goal KďũĞĐƚŝǀĞ͗ ͞dŽ ĐƌĞĂƚĞ Ă ĐĂŵƉĂŝŐŶ ƚŚĂƚ ŐŝǀĞƐ ǀŝƐŝďŝůŝƚLJ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ work GRP is doing with street children and adolescents and ƚŚĂƚ ƐƚŝŵƵůĂƚĞƐ ĚŽŶĂƚŝŽŶƐ͘͟
Working with limited resources
Me: Full time Inata: 5 students, every afternoon Izabela (Inata Teacher): 2 afternoons/week GRP: As much as they could manage TIE: As support 24/7 Other students (eg TV & radio teams): available with sweet-talking!
April 5th ± May 5th 2010: 23 working days, to include 2-day training, 3 evaluations & separate presentation to local comms industry.
Campaign budget: R$2,740 (£1000) ± thanks to donations from friends & family!
Stage 1: Pre-‐departure There was plenty to be done before setting foot on Brazilian soil: fundraising, training, preparation...
Fundraising
I contacted friends and family, explaining the background to the project, and set up a simple payment mechanism for them to contribute via Giftshare.com
Pre-‐departure training
This excellent one-‐day training with the inspiring Evelyn Jarrold gave a brief overview to the development sector, the world of human rights and tips & advice for how to approach the project ʹ invaluable!
Getting prepared Given the short time we would have to complete the task, I wanted to prepare a little, although many people warned me to go in with an open mind and no fixed ideas. So, I did some initial background reading into the area and the issue, I got in touch with a previous volunteers at GRP, Shahina & Cliffy, to get their perspectives and I brushed up on my Portuguese!
But it still felt a pretty daunting task zŽƵ͛ǀĞ ďĞĞŶ selected! zŽƵ͛ƌĞ ŽƵƚ ŽĨ the office for a whole MONTH?! I need to make an impact... /ƚ͛Ɛ ƵƉ ƚŽ LJŽƵ to pull it all together...
zŽƵ͛ůů ŶĞĞĚ ƚŽ hit the ground running...
You might get mugged...
I need to do it all in Portuguese You need to raise at least £1000...
I need to get leadership skills...
Before leaving, I was feeling pretty nervous about it all. Excited at being given such Ă ŐƌĞĂƚ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƚLJ͕ ďƵƚ ĂŶdžŝŽƵƐ ƚŚĂƚ / ƐŚŽƵůĚŶ͛ƚ ǁĂƐƚĞ ŝƚ͘ / ĨĞůƚ Ă ƉŝůĞ ŽĨ expectations hanging over me....
Stage 2: Acclimatisation The first two days involved the team meeting each other, discussing the projects and our feelings about it, and learning a bit more about development. One of my initial realisations at this point was that the process would be just as important as the final output. The experience of learning from each other, in a way, mattered as much as what we produced. A key factor of development is about listening to all perspectives and gaining consensus more than being single-‐minded to achieve a goal. We did plenty of discussions about how we were feeling about the project. Through that, I saw how nervous everyone else was feeling ʹ both Inata students and GRP participants so I knew it was important that I stayed positive from the start.
We did lots of group exercises where we thought about what would be important to remember throughout the project, how we should behave etc.
The project timeline Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Training Bonding Visiting/ observing GRP
Preparing brief Briefing Brainstorm
Concept development Creative development Thinking of future projects
Design & finalise pieces of campaign Explore media costs
Week 5 (3 days) Final presentation Evaluation Handover
We worked on a skeleton framework as part of the training to have a sense of how to divide our time. We managed to roughly stick to this.
Adapting to my new life: Beyond work, there was also plenty for me to get my head around ʹ adapting to life with the family (lots of people, lots of noise, fitting in to their routines), life in Brasilia Teimosa (bottom left) which was also busy and noisy, getting used to communicating entirely in Portuguese, no matter how slow or frustrating that was, getting used to the heat, the pace of life, and the weird and wonderful food!
Stage 3: Preparing the brief This was a really exciting part of the project for me, as we got to spend lots of time with GRP, observing their programmes, going out onto the streets to meet the kids, into the favelas to meet their families, and out into the countryside to see the Vida Nova centre where lots of the work takes place. It was often challenging in terms of what we saw, but it became so clear that a) GRP is doing something crucial b) they barely have enough money to keep going.
Getting to know GRP ʹ the places
The Inata team and I
Getting to know GRP ʹ the people
Getting to know GRP ʹ the children
The Inata students and I spent time with the kids, just getting to know some of them, talking to them about their lives before, and their dreams and aspirations for the future.
The  children  are  totally  vulnerable Family difficulties
No security
Risk of drugs
No money
Risk of prostitution Bad education in schools Violence
Loss of hope:
Solitude
³,I WKLV LV D VFKRRO , GRQ¶W ZDQW WR JR WR XQLYHUVLW\´ (this was a piece of graffiti on the walls of a youth correction facility, which are notoriously horrific)
Loss of self-esteem ³, GRQ¶W KDYH D GUHDP´ (these were the words of a 12 year ROG ER\ EHIRUH KH¶G VWDUWHG WKH *53 process)
But above all, they are just children
³I want to buy a motorbike´ Marcio, currently participating in the GRP 2 day process
³, ZDQW WR SOD\ IRRWEDO IRU %DUFHORQD´ Eurípedes, currently part of GRP residential process
Having fun on the Vida Nova site
We lent our cameras to some of the children while we were there. They went off photographing us, themselves, each other, the plants and animals of the site. When I got home, I realised some had even made this little film recording! It was a real reminder to me that the situation of the streets, not the children themselves, is the thing to despise .
GRP   -Ââ€? the  facts $V ZHOO DV YLVLWLQJ LQ WKH IOHVK ZH DOVR GLG DQ RYHUYLHZ RI WKH EUDQG XQGHUVWDQGLQJ LWÂśV history, objectives, work and structure. We went through piles of old reports to find the few statistics they did have, to help prove their success and spoke to many people within the organisation to hear their thoughts.
‡
A  non-Ââ€?profit,  non-Ââ€?government  organisation  with  23  years  of  experience  (founded  in  1987)
‡
A  known  expert  in  working  with  street  children  and  adolescents  in  Brazil,  with  a  consistent  pedagological  approach  without  shifts  or  scandals.
‡
The  mission:  To  educate  children  and  adolescents  in  the  streets  and  squares  of  Recife  and  to  stimulate  their  desires  and  dreams.  To  promote  citizenship  and  the  construction  of  new  lives  for  a  better  future.
'ZW͛Ɛ ϰ ƉƌŽŐƌĂŵŵĞƐ Street education
Political Articulation
Family social work
Vida Nova Educational Centre
Street Education
Get to know the history and lives of the children and adolescents through cultural and educational activities in the streets and squares of Recife.
Family Social Work
Encourage children and adolescents to reintegrate into their families. The families learn about their rights and are guided towards public services so as to guarantee their citizenship.
Vida Nova Educational Centre
Rural space where children and adolescents participate in an educational process with learning workshops (farming, art, music, school) and receive therapeutic assistance too. 2 day, 5 day, residential and reintegration processes.
Political Articulation
Intervene and propose quality public policies and guarantee the rights of children and adolescents through participation in advisory councils, forums and partnerships.
The programmes are successful Between 2005 ʹ 2008: GRP helped over 1462 children and adolescents on the street and at the site. They helped over 660 families. They helped over 489 children and adolescents to get shelter and return home. 'ZW͛Ɛ ŐŽĂů ŝƐ ƚŽ ŚĞůƉ ϮϱϬ ĐŚŝůĚƌĞŶ ĂŶĚ ĂĚŽůĞƐĐĞŶƚƐ Ă LJĞĂƌ͕ ĂŶĚ ϭϬϬ ĨĂŵŝůŝĞƐ͘ But to do that they need financial support and a wide range of donations, from food, cleaning products, clothes, volunteers and specialist help (e.g. psychologists)
What communications do they do already? Very little. There is occasional press coverage in local media; they have badges and old leaflets for HYHQWV WKH\ KDYH D VLWH EORJ DQG RFFDVLRQDOO\ KROG ÂľED]DDUÂś VDOHV WR raise a bit of extra cash, using donated products. Tone of comms is always purely factual with little appeal for help/emotional pull.
They have never done an assessment of the effectiveness of any of their communications.
Our observations about GRP
Our visits to the children and their families were often very moving and thought-‐provoking. We felt these anecdotal observations were just as important as fact-‐finding in terms of getting to the heart of the issue.
One of the most striking things was to see hope emerging in the children who were further along the GRP process. I met some boys at the start who had nothing to say, no dreams for the future, a strong sense of futility. The kids on the site were full of energy, life and thoughts about what they would do next. We wanted to capture this positivity in the work we created, as we felt this was at the core of the brand.
The other key observation was that every little helps. Beyond simply money, people can donate a bag of rice, a bar of soap, some pencils, anything will help. This seemed to mirror the fact that the issue of street ĐŚŝůĚƌĞŶ ŝƐ ĞƐƐĞŶƚŝĂůůLJ ƐŽĐŝĞƚLJ͛Ɛ ƉƌŽďůĞŵ͘ Ɛ ŽŶĞ ŵĞŵďĞƌ ŽĨ 'ZW ƐŽ ĂƉƚůLJ ƐĂŝĚ͗ ͚ ƚŚĞƌĞ ŝƐ ŶŽ ŽŶĞ ƉĞƌƐŽŶ ƚŽ ďůĂŵĞ͕ ďƵƚ ƚŚĞƌĞ ĂƌĞ ƉůĞŶƚLJ ŽĨ ǀŝĐƚŝŵƐ͛͘ We started to think that maybe there could be lots of saviours too.
Key insights from brand work
GRP is an institution worthy of respect ʹ it has unsung authority in this area.
The work GRP centres around positivity and a bright view of the future. Attitudes of the children and their families Educational processes Attitude of staff
The core belief is about empowering the young people to build a better life for themselves.
The  target  audience
Key  audiences Children
Universities
Families Other NGOs
Individuals (Brazil) Individuals (international)
Local communities Government Private Sector Middle Class people of Recife = good relationship = some relationship but could be grown = no current relationship, communication priority :H DQDO\VHG *53ÂśV DXGLHQFHV WR LGHQWLI\ SULRULW\ WDUJHWV 7KH\ KDYH JRRG UHODWLRQV ZLWK WKRVH GLUHFWO\ LQYROYHG in the issue, but more distant audiences, eg those from more affluent backgrounds/business etc had not been involved despite being able to potentially help a lot. Given the need for funds, this was therefore the priority area. Longer term we gave some advice on making use of broader audiences, e.g. International donations from individuals and throughout the rest of Brazil.
ƌĂnjŝů͛Ɛ ŵŝĚĚůĞ ĐůĂƐƐ This is the largest part of the population, and could significantly contribute towards the NGO. Currently ƌĞƉƌĞƐĞŶƚƐ ϱϮй ŽĨ ƌĂnjŝů͛Ɛ ƉŽƉƵůĂƚŝŽŶ͘
Pen Portrait 1 We created two pen portraits as sense-checks during brainstorming, to make the audience feel more real, and to keep in mind the diversity within the target. We also did it to help us think about when the target would be most open to contact.
Mirela, 20 years old. ͻ Studies at a private university. ͻHas a paid internship in a company. ͻLives with her parents and 2 brothers. ͻGoes by bus to university from time to time, but normally tries to get a lift with friends, as her parents are using the car. ͻ^ŚĞ͛Ɛ ďƵƐLJ Ăůů ĚĂLJ ǁŝƚŚ ĐůĂƐƐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ ŝŶƚĞƌŶƐŚŝƉ͕ ƐŽ ǁŚĞŶ the weekend comes, she goes out to clubs, to the Mall or other lively areas with her friends.
Pen Portrait #2 Ednaldo, 50 years old. ͻ He is a civil servant. ͻHe lives with his wife and their two children in an apartment in Boa Viagem. They are his number one priority. ͻ He travels to work by car. Whenever he can, he always drops his kids at school. His wife also has a car. ͻ When not working, he does household chores with his wife. ͻAt the weekend, he likes spending time with his family, and they try to go out on Sundays for lunch in a restaurant, or a trip to the cinema or somthing similar.
Does the target know about street children? They are the social group that is furthest removed from GRP and the work that it does. However they see street children every day ʹ they pass by in their cars, or on the bus, they are asked for money, perhaps they have been assaulted by them in the past ʹ they are part of the city they live in. The target knows there is an ongoing issue with street children:
± Of an enormous scale. ± Complex issue with many factors to consider ± No clear or speedy solution From conversations with friends and family, we discovered a general sense of the problem being too large to solve and a general sense that it made people feel very uncomfortable as a topic
Broader consideration
There is no culture of donation in Brazil: it is not common behaviour, so people are suspicious about giving their money to unknown sources.
Financial systems are not in place to make financial donations easy either ʹ direct debits and bank transfers all have significant fees and paypal is not well known yet.
Target Survey
We used a free online survey tool, www. Surveygizmo.com, to get further insight into our target audience We used the personal networks of the Inata students, who were part of the target audience themselves, to disperse this to friends & family within the city. We got nearly 100 responses.
Key learnings from the survey (respondents were Brazilian, middle class, living in Recife)
ϱϱй ƐĂŝĚ ƚŚĂƚ ͚ĨĂŵŝůLJ͛ ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ŝŵƉŽƌƚĂŶƚ ƚŚŝŶŐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞŝƌ ůŝǀĞƐ͘
dŚĞ ŵĂũŽƌŝƚLJ ŽĨ ƉĞŽƉůĞ ǀŽƚĞĚ ͚ϲ͛ ŽŶ Ă ƐĐĂůĞ ŽĨ ϭ-‐10 in terms of how optimistic they felt about the future of Brazil.
85% said they liked Recife.
The majority of people said that if they could change one thing about Recife it would be safety.
When a street child approaches them in the street, the majority of people feel uncomfortable.
When asked what they do when asked for money by street children, the answers were fairly divided, the majority answering that they do not give money but they do apologise (29%).
DŽƐƚ ƉĞŽƉůĞ ƐĂŝĚ ƚŚĂƚ ƚŚĞLJ ŚĂĚŶ͛ƚ ĞǀĞƌ ƚŚŽƵŐŚƚ ŽĨ ŚĞůƉŝŶŐ ĂŶ E'K͘
Key Insights from Target
This topic makes them feel uncomfortable
They see the negatives of the situation(personal safety, guilt, fear of assault, beggar children) but not the positives lying beneath (the personalities of the children, their hopes etc).
dŚĞLJ ĚŽŶ͛ƚ ŬŶŽǁ ŚŽǁ ƚŽͬĚŽŶ͛ƚ ƚŚŝŶŬ ŽĨ ŚĞůƉŝŶŐ
dŚĞLJ ŚĂǀĞŶ͛ƚ ŚĞĂƌĚ ŽĨ 'ZW͘
Further inspiration We also did an analysis of previous campaigns in this category, from a range of other NGOs or causes that seek to change behaviour. This helped us to understand what approaches people have used in the past and the emotional impact they might have on the target.
Many use shock tactics
Some make you think
Some use a lighter touch
Story Wall at Chelsea Flower Show made by homeless people
Some encourage action
Projeto Doe Palavras (Project Donate Words): Tweets with hashtag #doepalavras are shown on screens throughout Mario Penna Hospital in places where people need support, eg in chemotherapy units etc. Anyone can send messages of encouragement.
Amnesty International Poland did letter-writing campaign. To encourage people to send they put doors on front of postboxes ± as if your letter was landing directly on the SROLWLFLDQ¶V GRRUPDW
Head & Shoulders POP installation showing picture of your own hairline to encourage purchase!
Key insights from comms review
Shocking messages have impact but can perpetuate certain preconceptions.
It is possible to be thought-‐provoking using metaphor and comparison.
It is possible to use positive imagery and still be memorable.
We need to make it as easy as possible for people to help.
STAGE 4: THE BRIEFING & CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT This was a challenging phase! In contrast to the way this process normally works, there was endless discussion and conversation about what the most important elements of focus were and what approach we should adopt. Our briefing session lasted nearly 4 hours despite my best attempts to rein it in! But it was an important process, especially for the GRP team to actually reflect on how they wanted to be perceived vs the Inata team and myself trying to remind that certain perceptions & prejudices would exist among the target, however unappealing that might be.
Our Strategy
To raise profile of GRP:
Raise awareness of it:
Raise trust in it
To show that GRP represents hope and positivity for individuals and for the city of Recife
To empower young people through comms:
Involving them in process
Creating positive images that do not reinforce stereotypes & giving them a voice
To make it easier for target to get involved:
Appeal in a non-‐confrontational way
Make the problem feel individual and achievable, not complex and overwhelming.
The summary of the brief To appeal to the middle classes of Recife in order to: 1. Raise awareness of GRP & what it does
2. Give them a different perspective on street children
3. Inform them about what they can do to help
Key outcome: Bring them closer to the issue. Make them feel they can make a difference.
= integrity, authority, action
Tone of communications
= personal, positive, welcoming, active
Mandatory: Must have a call to action Must create positive images of the children
Campaign  Structure We needed to think about the levels of interest of our audience and take them on a journey of persuasion. We had to be realistic about the fact that most people would see, some may want to read more and only a few would actually help. We agreed that the first two were immediately achievable but the latter was more of a longterm task. You have my attention
I am interested in learning more
I want to do something
Eye-FDWFKLQJ HOHPHQWV WR JUDE SHRSOHÂśV attention E.g. Paid media, social media Elements to provide more detail & gain trust Ex.:. Website, face-to-face, pamphlets, press coverage
Define simple & convenient ways that people can help.
THE Â BRIEFING!
Our concept
After some brainstorming and creative exploration back at Inata HQ, we considered a few creative routes, before jointly agreeing on our final route:
THE FUTURE
PROGRESS
POTENTIAL
CITIZENSHIP
͞zŽƵ ĐĂŶ͛ƚ ĐŚĂŶŐĞ ƚŚĞŝƌ ƉĂƐƚ͕ ďƵƚ LJŽƵ ĐĂŶ ĐŚĂŶŐĞ ƚŚĞŝƌ ĨƵƚƵƌĞ͟ Show that street children can have a future, that is it possible to help them, that all is not lost and that they can learn and grow in life too. They have a role in society and can pursue their dreams. And people can help to build the future and realise the dreams of these children through Grupo Ruas e Praças.
Style considerations
After some discussion, we decided to adopt a cinematic look & feel to the work.
Target feels detached from the topic, so we could play with that sense of distance.
Cinema is a key part of middle class life (especially in Recife with its burgeoning film industry, festivals etc
Allows us to be eye-‐catching, and use surprise.
Associations of dreams, fantasies, possibility.
So we explored the visuals & language of the film world to try and emulate it in our work.
STAGE 5: CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION This was manic and where the lack of time really hit us. We basically had a week to make everything! But somehow we pulled it together. We made use of some of the other departments at Aeso, to use free TV and radio recording equipment and expertise, plus editing software, a voice-‐over artist and film crew, which helped us enormously!
Deciding on the campaign pieces
We only had ZΨϮ͕ϳϰϬ ƚŽ ǁŽƌŬ ǁŝƚŚ͕ ƐŽ ǁĞ ĐŽƵůĚŶ͛ƚ ďĞ ŽǀĞƌůLJ ĂŵďŝƚŝŽƵƐ ŝŶ ƚĞƌŵƐ ŽĨ what we created.
We measured what we wanted to do against our key objectives:
Raise profile of GRP
Empower the young people
Make it easy for target to get involved.
We also knew we had to be as clever with media as possible. We set about contacting media/print companies to see what deals we could negotiate.
Our creative tasks Element
Why
Cost
Redesign logo
Raise profile/credibility of GRP
Free
Posters
Raise awareness/eye-‐catching Involve young people
Print costs. Likely can ask people to place in restaurants/cafes/faculties for free.
Pamphlets
More detail on GRP to gain trust
Print costs.
Short film for Youtube
Raise awareness Involve young people Provide detail on GRP
Free (place on Youtube)
Radio clip
Raise awareness on GRP
Free to make. Need to negotiate free/reduced slot.
Social media
Raise awareness
Free. Use personal networks/university contacts to add weight to campaign ʹ forwarding film on to friends etc. Film also asks people to forward it on to their friends.
Press Release
Use contacts to raise awareness & Free -‐ provide detail on GRP
Deciding how to use the budget: R$2740
We did quite extensive exploration of media options, using contacts and cold-‐calling. We managed to get significant reductions to help the budget go further.
We wanted to use a professional photographer to ensure quality images for the collateral. We used a friend of a friend and negotiated hard for a reduced rate: Fotógrafo: R$57,20
Posters: 3,000 posters, 30x42cm, 4 colour printing, high quality paper: R$870
Leaflets: 4000 leaflets, 20x21cm open (10x21 closed), 4/4 colour printing, high quality paper, 1 fold: R$930
Remaining: R$ 882 (to be used at later date) This can either be used to print more of above elements Alternatively use other media: Backbus wrap R$400 for a month, small street sign R$150 for a month Explore radio spot costs etc Consider repainting GRP minibus, making use of front of Recife HQ etc.
A new logo
We wanted to maintain the essence of the logo (it had been created by GRP themselves & people working for and with them knew it well) but wanted to give it a more professional air of authority to help them with future fundraising. We also included the name of the NGO and their slogan since these were sometimes absent from the ORJR 1% 6ORJDQ XQGHUQHDWK PHDQV µUHVWRULQJ FLWL]HQVKLS¶
We also changed the direction of the road so that it reflected our concept of the future ± the children are heading forward towards a brighter place. This logo will be used on all future comms, on their staff uniforms (which are currently being reprinted) and on all brand properties.
Radio :H¶G KLUHG WKH XQLYHUVLW\ UHFRUGLQJ VWXGLR SOXV ZH IRXQG D YROXQWHHU YRLFH-over student with some experience. We needed a VO for the film, but we also used the opportunity to record a quick radio clip, for future use if more comms budget arose (as client had advised it may do in following months).
µ0DQ\ SHRSOH OLYH RQ WKH VWUHHWV ZLWKRXW SURWHFWLRQ EXW ZLWK PDQ\ GUHDPV *UXSR Ruas e Pracas works to help young children and adolescents on the streets. Help GRP to give this story a happy ending. Make donations, rescue lives. Grupo Ruas e Pracas, restoring citizenship (+ phone + URL)
Poster Reads: The rescue of a life. (Above: He only needed a chance to change his story). Below (This story is not based on real facts, it is real. Grupo Ruas e Pracas restores citizenship to children and adolescents living on the streets. Help to create a happy ending for many more stories. Give money, clothing, food and support. Watch our film on Youtube by searching Âľ*UXSR 5XDV H 3UDFDVÂś
Leaflet (front cover)
The rescue of a life. He only needed a chance to change his story. ĐĐĞƐƐ ŽŶ zŽƵdƵďĞ͕ ͚'ƌƵƉŽ ZƵĂƐ Ğ WƌĂĐĂƐ͛ NB: Man featured is Luan, who passed through the GRP process and now has a home, wife and family.
Leaflet (inside pages) Leading text reads: :ŽŝŶ ƵƐ͕ ŝƚ͛Ɛ ƚŚĞ ƚŝŵĞ ƚŽ ĚŽ something for street children & adolescents. The situation can change. Get involved! The NGO GRP has existed for 23 years, and we have developed activity of social reintegration for street children & adolescents. In the last 3 years, we have helped restore the citizenship of 1,462 young people in Recife and around a third of those returned to their families or found shelter. There are still many young people on the streets, hungry and vulnerable and dreaming of a more dignified and stable life. We need your help to make this happen, by donations of money, objects, food, clothing or even volunteering. The future of these children is changing from now, you just need to act. + details on 4 programmes of activity. Images are 2 children who passed through process and now have homes, jobs, families + Rosilene from GRP
Leaflet (back cover)
/ŶƚƌŽ ƚĞdžƚ ƌĞĂĚƐ͗ ͚/ Ăŵ ŐŽŝŶŐ ƚŽ ĐŚĂŶŐĞ ƚŚĞ ĨƵƚƵƌĞ ŶŽǁ ĂŶĚ ƌĞƐƚŽƌĞ ĐŝƚŝnjĞŶƐŚŝƉ ƚŽ ƐƚƌĞĞƚ ĐŚŝůĚƌĞŶ͛
Filme
Overview: Film is approx 2 minutes long, using a combination of video, photos, voice over and music. The start of the film is more dramatic, to echo the tone of the campaign and feel filmic. Then the film transforms into more of a documentary with interviews of key people and positive testimonials as well as information about GRP. The film end with calls to action and an appeal to pass the film on to others to spread the word.
We gathered ex-‐'ZW ƉĂƌƚŝĐŝƉĂŶƚƐ͕ ͚ƐƵĐĐĞƐƐ ƐƚŽƌŝĞƐ͛ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ƉƌŽĐĞƐƐ͕ ƚŽ ƵƐĞ ĂƐ ƌĞĂů ĞǀŝĚĞŶĐĞ that the process works and the slogan is true ʹ lives and dreams really are restored.
We also interviewed key staff members themselves and a supporting lawyer who has worked with them previously to add credibility and authority to the organisation.
THE MAKING OF...
FILM The film was a rough cut when I left, but the team were completing the final edits and the link will be added here when complete. I will also add translations, once the film is finalised.
Press Release Translation: ͚'ƌƵƉŽ ZƵĂƐ Ğ WƌĂĐĂƐ ŝƐ ĂŶ E'K ǁŚŽƐĞ ŵĂŝŶ ŐŽĂů ŝƐ ƚŽ ĞĚƵĐĂƚĞ ǀƵůŶĞƌĂďůĞ ƐƚƌĞĞƚ ĐŚŝůĚƌĞŶ ĂŶĚ adolescents The NGO uses arts and culture to help build citizenship, helping the children create new activity in their life for a better future. Currently there are 4 areas of activity in the NGO: street education, socio-‐familial work, the Vida Nova education centre and political articulation. During the month of April, Inata, experimental advertising agency of AESO-‐Barros Melo University, together with the social enterprise TIE and UK communications professional Micha Colombo, created a communication plan for GRP. This project was carried out to demonstrate the role of the NGO in society and to encourage people to help, because the future of these children depends on us and our willingness to help them. A campaign is being launched by GRP to show that these children can have a future, that they just need to be given a chance. It includes interviews with people who were street children and who now have stable lives, thanks to GRP. GRP needs people to give what they can, be that money, clothing, food or other items. For more details, visit our site www.ruasepracas.org. For those wishing to learn more, you can also watch our video on YouTube by searching for Grupo Ruas e Pracas. (add link).
MY PRESENTATION During the project, I also gave a presentation to the university students and the local communications industry. I set myself the challenge of doing it all in Portuguese, and I managed it! It was a useful lesson in how you can actually simplify most ƚŚŝŶŐƐ ŝŶƚŽ ŽƌĚŝŶĂƌLJ ůĂŶŐƵĂŐĞ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĂƚ ũĂƌŐŽŶ ŽĨƚĞŶ ŐĞƚƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ǁĂLJ ŽĨ ǁŚĂƚ LJŽƵ͛ƌĞ trying to say.
Stage 6 : Making it sustainable It was frustrating not being able to hand everthing over 100% completed ʹ time eventually got the better of us. So in lieu of more time, I did my best to firstly pull together an action plan for the remainder of the campaign requirements to help the remaining team pull it ƚŽŐĞƚŚĞƌ͘ /ƚ ǁĂƐ ĐƌƵĐŝĂů ƚŚĂƚ ƚŚĞ ǁŽƌŬ ĚŝĚŶ͛ƚ ĚŝĞ ƐŝŵƉůLJ ďĞĐĂƵƐĞ / ǁĂƐ ŶŽ ůŽŶŐĞƌ ƚŚĞƌĞ ƚŽ push it forward. I really wanted to make the impact sustainable and to encourage the others to take over the activity without it feeling daunting. In addition, I had been working in parallel throughout the placement on a ͚ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝĐĂƚŝŽŶƐ ƚŽŽůŬŝƚ͛ ʹ this was essentially a separate consultancy project detailing suggestions to improve process, creating useful documents and suggesting future areas to work on.
Finishing the campaign ʹ my handover action plan 03-‐07/05/10
10-‐15/05/10
Finalise all artwork, approve press release, email, blog post about campaign
Print all posters & leaflets
Place final edit of film onto Youtube
Use remaining budget to buy more media
Goal 1: All materials finished, approved and printed by 15/05/2010 16-‐20/05/10 Give posters to restaurants, bars, shops, independent cinemas/theatres near GRP/appropriate to target + send to contacts in local unis Give leaflets to partners & try and place in local restaurants (with bill)
23-‐27/05/10 All team members send Youtube link to friends & family Send tweets about campaign launch Create facebook page & all facebook members add link to profile
Send press release to all media contacts + link to film (and send to list of local bloggers too)
Goal 2: Launch campaign: 27/05/2010
Communications Toolkit I created this pack to help GRP continue comms work into the future. It contained:
Communications overview including: role of comms, objectives, audiences, assets, evaluation techniques & criteria
Projects for the future, with advice on how to get started:
Rolling out the new brand
Content creation
Facilitating individual donation (including Paypal)
Building local partnerships with restaurants & supermarkets
Pitching to the private sector for funding
Creating an evaluation process for all comms activity
A list of useful documents:
Pitch document summarising GRP for events, media, partners, private sector (in English & Portuguese)
Detalied briefing on GRP to help future volunteers, TIE people etc (in English & portuguese)
Details of case study of recent child in Caruaru ʹ basis of key piece of content for site
List of potential local partners & some contact details
All TIE project presentations, photos, videos, work
Survey results.
Stage 7: Evaluation It took me quite a while to be able to reflect calmly on my experience in Recife. It threw up so many challenging thoughts, I was tested in so many ways that for days, weeks (probably for a long time still) my mind was racing with thought and unable to reach clear conclusions. I completed a massive evaluation form for Philippa that was a braindump of some initial thoughts, but I still think and realise more things about the experience, even now I am back in the UK. And there are lots of things I would like to have done better on the project!
GOING Â HOME
My Own Reflections
Some of the things I came away with:
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Be empathetic to the needs/motivations of others first and foremost.
Be positive in the face of it all. See the funny side (otherwise you cry).
Be clear, specific and directional when allocating tasks.
Find ways to get work straight out of your system (long runs along the beach at sunset did the trick I found! Either that or a strong caipirinha).
Learn how you like to work ± I need time to reflect before giving opinions so I learnt to plan that into schedules.
Explain things as simply as you possibly can. Jargon stinks, no matter what the language .
%H \RXUVHOI DQG OHW RWKHUV EH WKHPVHOYHV , OHDUQW \RX FDQ¶W FKDQJH VRPHRQH¶V approach to punctuality, no matter how hard I tried...).
Be approachable, be organised, be open, be humble.
, KRQHVWO\ FDQ¶W VD\ HQRXJK KRZ IDQWDVWLF WKLV H[SHULHQFH ZDV , KRSH , PDGH DQ LPSDFW , know it made a massive impact on me.
What next? I am still chasing the teams to just finish off the final tasks in order for the campaign to launch, we are really nearly there! Want to know what you can do? 1) Visit their site and donate if you wish. www.ruasepracas.org 2) Tell others about GRP and what they do 3) Go over to Recife and help out ʹ you know you want to....
THE END?