“AN ENDURING SYMBOL FOR THE CAUSE”
Zero Tolerance Ribbon wins first Grand Prix for Good.
Grand Prix: Grand Prix for Good Client: 28 Too Many Agency: Impact BBDO
Logan Allanson Innovation creative director, Impact BBDO
What was the insight behind the campaign?
As prolific and harmful as female genital mutilation (FGM) is, with nine out of 10 women having undergone the procedure in Egypt and more than 200 million worldwide, it had no unifying symbol for the community to rally against. Despite hundreds of campaigns having been launched to condemn the practice, each had done so in a silo, never truly triggering a movement against the practice that was able to effect real change. So we flipped our approach and spoke to the younger generation and new parents.
Where did that insight come from?
Social movements require people to come together and unite behind a common cause; they need to be able to identify one another as parts of the same movement in order to gain momentum. We identified the importance of unifying icons and symbols, which give coherence to isolated grassroots efforts. They tap into our emotions and encourage us to learn more. We use them to identify ourselves with a larger purpose and community and to capture the attention of media outlets, with their famously short attention spans. Sometimes, these symbols and the meaning they carry can be the most long-lasting effects of a social movement
What were the challenges to getting the work done?
The main challenge we faced was time and project management. What started off as a very targeted idea for Egypt quickly became global. A lot of international FGM organisations asked to be involved once they caught wind of the idea. Dealing with multiple parties, different time zones and having everything in place to be able to launch on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM made it rather tricky.
How did you overcome those challenges?
Part of our strategy was to open-source the Ribbon and let any FGM organisation use it as part of their own communications, so that helped alleviate a few pain points on the way. The only condition was that they couldn’t change the name, shape or colour. In the end this turned out to be the best decision we ever made. We also managed to overcome many different challenges through simple teamwork and support. I know these words get thrown around a lot, but it in this case they ring true and I’m sure it was evident on the awards ceremony night. The whole team are still buzzing and I’m proud to see how great ideas bring agencies together.