HOW WE REKINDLED A
NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION
WITH THE POWER OF
CREATIVE STRATEGY

ABOUT THE PROJECT

A few years ago, the Africa Leadership Initiative had a relook at their communication approach, and needed advice on how they can best create engagement and participation amongst their own Fellows and stakeholders.

We eagerly took the challenge and set out on a journey of revamping their entire massaging construct. As always, the first thing we did was to develop a creative positioning strategy for the brand, followed by a re-design and a re-development of their brand. The results were super. This is how we did it.

WE DEVELOPED A CREATIVE STRATEGY

After accepting a brief from ALI, we went to the drawing board and formulated a creative strategy in order to lay the foundation and dictate the narrative for all future communication endeavors by ALI.

As part of the strategy, we developed a pay-off line that embodied what ALI stood for. ‘Integrity’ was one ‘word’ we chose for the brand to own. The strap-line, Let Integrity Lead became a sentiment which provoked a call for all Fellows to go and lead with integrity. Moreover, it was also a way through which ALI defined itself as a values-based organisation.

The payoff-line stroke a chord with everyone, including ALI’s global partners. The creative strategy then led us to the next big objective — to relook at the ALI website.

WE REVAMPED THEIR WEBSITE

The previous ALI website needed a lot of work.

We had to re-design and re-develop the site. In collaboration with Bluevine Systems and Kaitoma Creatives, we finally launched the ALI website on the 10th August 2016 with an aim of improving user interaction through a clean & simple, as well as an engaging and user-friendly platform.

Prior to managing the account, the user traffic to the old website was averaging 600 users per month. The new website statistics showed a peak of 204 users on the day of launch stabilising on an average of 1,842 users per-month to date.

WE USED EMAIL MARKETING

Email communication with the Fellows and ALI stakeholders was initially implemented with weekly communication of re-introducing all the classes.

This introduction increased interests among the Fellows and it created a quick burst that showed a rise in the website traffic from 608 active users to 1,555 in a short space of a month.

The ALI SA mailing list currently has 200 subscribers with an average open-rate of 45% which is above industry average sitting at 16.67%.

WE ENGAGED SOCIALLY

After developing the website, we refreshed their Social media presence.

Social Media is a must for any brand that has a website. It should not be viewed as a different medium of communication, but it should also be seen as an extension of the website — or perhaps, a channel through which a website is able to interact and communicate with active and potential users. In today’s technological age, Social Media is the heartbeat of a brand — an indicator that a brand is alive and engaging.

We ran numerous tactical campaigns that raised eyebrows. The primary aim was to get people engaging and identifying with the brand, its values, its stance on socio-political issues even though ALI is a non-partisan brand.

WE WROTE ARTICLES,
PRODUCED VIDEOS & SHOWCASED THEIR PROJECTS

Based on our communication strategy, we began the process of showcasing a number of successful projects which were initiated by ALI Fellows.

The series was successful in highlighting how ALI inspires social ideas that can impact communities. We looked at projects such as Teach SA, The Bulungula Incubator, and FUEL amongst others. The series created fresh content for the website and got the Fellows to engage more.