The The brand values relevant to this work specifically were around digital inclusion for all, through tech.

The brief was to create an African continent-wide stakeholder and media engagement platform that addresses the lack of ubiquitous digital access on the African continent with a call to action for public-private partnerships.

Our key objectives are; to showcase the incredible potential of connectivity and digital technologies and to create a key tool for lobbying and stakeholder mapping.

The agency wanted to showcase the incredible potential of connectivity and digital technologies by combining facts with uniquely African stories. Understanding that human stories are 22 times more memorable than facts, storytelling was a crucial element of the campaign strategy. But finding people to tell impact stories on a continent where internet connectivity is limited, and communication barriers exist was a major challenge. The agency set up interviews with real people living in some of the most remote settings and was able to uncover how digital tools open opportunities for millions of people to change their lives, strengthen their livelihoods and make a positive contribution to the lives of those around them.

For the campaign to be relevant for the African continent in a post Covid-19 world, fresh qualitative and quantitative research was commissioned (supported by the Nelson Mandela Foundation) to create dialogue and action around the role of digital technology in improving education in Africa.

To incite meaningful engagement, the report had to be compelling. Including human interest stories over and above the research in the report would illustrate the real impact of digital technology in transforming education in Africa.

This would mean sourcing case studies and interviewing educators and learners across the continent while highlighting the different challenges across various markets.

We reached our target audiences through partnerships with governments, the private sector, universities, development agencies and technology companies to build inclusive digital education eco-systems on the continent and transform Africa’s future.

On June 27, we launched the Research Report titled ‘Connected Education’ on the Vodacom website with amplification on LinkedIn from both the Vodacom brand handle and the CEO’s personal profile.

We launched the report during a live event and panel discussion at The Nelson Mandela Foundation to unveil the findings with media and key stakeholders in attendance. And further amplified through a Pan African earned media program.

For market resonance, we created translated toolkits for Vodacom and Vodafone communication teams to pitch this content in their markets, leveraging their existing country media lists. The toolkit included thought-leadership content, press releases, social media and video collateral that was produced to show the human impact of the work being done.

Most importantly, we created a set of actionable policy recommendations to address the continental wide challenges around quality education. And 2.3 million learners have already been reached through digital education solutions across Africa.

The report take-outs have been instrumental in sparking dialogue and creating partnerships to address digital literacy in Africa. Currently, these findings are being used to drive discussions at global events like MWC Africa and with existing and new stakeholder partnerships.

Tanzanian authorities have also announced they are waiving the value-added tax on smartphones, tablets, and modems to get more citizens connected faster.

We continue to leverage this work at scale. Work is underway with the South African Department of Education, authorities in Tanzania and Lesotho Communications Authority to provide greater access to digital literacy tools .