December is always a joyous month for our agency. It fills us up with hopes, aspirations, new campaigns and ideas for the year to come. We are excited to be closing off and opening a new chapter. It is also a time for us to reflect on what we did in 2017.
Did we achieve the resolutions we penned out for 2017? We believe we did. Amongst the many plans we had, our reason for existence has always been to help brands play a meaningful role in the lives of people. It is crystal clear that the history of the advertising industry is being rewritten as empowered consumers and ever-evolving technologies are redefining how advertising is created, published and consumed. Consumers now expect brands to innovate with societal impact in mind, reaching out to the them through relevant story-telling on platforms and channels that matter to them.
One of our biggest highlights by far this 2017 was the Zimplats “Friends with Albinism” Campaign. The main objective of the campaign was to help the Zimplats brand dispel the myths around the subject of Albinism in our country and across all nations of the world through the “beyond This Skin” campaign. Zimplats, together with the groups representing people with albinism and the government (through Ministry of health, social welfare and public works) also wanted to take advantage of the platform to distribute sunscreen lotions and other other resources.
In Zimbabwe, the plight of people with albinism is still very appalling, though it’s not as severe as in other African nations where they are murdered for ritual purposes, they are still one of the most vulnerable groups in Zimbabwe that often a time are not given the same opportunities as the rest of the people.
CAMPAIGN IMPACT
1. Media Recognition
The campaign got recognition from both the local and international publishers. Locally, the herald heralded that “Govt and Zimplats launch albinism campaign” and one of the leading international publishers Quartz Africa carried the We are no different story. The coverage of the campaign saw more and more people and corporates showing interest in participating in the campaign. Among these Stanbic Bank (Standard Bank) and DHL offered to partner through distribution, donations, providing job opportunities and scholarships etc
2. The price of Sunscreen lotions dropped
Before the campaign a bottle of sunscreen was about US$15, and as the campaign continued, Zimplats managed to negotiate with some local pharmacists who manufacture lotions, leading to a sharp drop of the the price to about $8. Zimplats was further approached by a South African company that has also further offered to help manufacture Sunscreens, and this has seen a further drop of the price to $5
3. Government Support
The minister of health, social welfare and public works at the launch of our campaign mentioned and has started to make moves to legislate the free distribution of sunscreen to people with albinism just as people with HIV get free ARVs in Zimbabwe.
4. Awards and Recognition
As the company puts forth its best efforts each day, ensuring Zimplats creates and delivers in the most sustainable way. We are proud of the campaign accomplishments as both local and global third parties reaffirm and recognize the campaign efforts through awards.
We realize that the challenges we seek to address and the stories we intend to tell are many and complex, but we will continue to set the bar higher and make further progress in helping brands play a meaningful role in the societies that they operate.
Happy Holidays from The Dicomm Family!
