Medellín was once home to the world's largest drug cartel, and yet it had managed to break free from that history to become an incredibly progressive city. However, the rapid pace of progress has created great inequality between the city's central areas and the slums on the city's outskirts. The people living in the slums have suffered both conscious and subconscious discrimination; the children there grow up amidst constant crime and violence, and are given very few opportunities that would allow them to leave this environment.

Yamaha has long been active in Columbia, where they operate under the philosophy, "Children who hold instruments don't hold guns." The project could not have been realized without Yamaha's connections with local communities, the Mayor of Medellín, local football teams, and the Colombian Football Federation.

To children living in Medellín's slums, football is important, as are musicians, who play mentor-like roles in their lives.

Yamaha wanted a way to show the world that music had the power to help children overcome poverty and inequality. First, Yamaha developed the Venova, a resilient musical instrument designed to survive in run-down environments. Then, they taught children living in Medellín's slums how to play the instrument, for free. Finally, they provided the children with the opportunity to perform the national anthem at the opening ceremony of a major football match, where they stood side by side with professional football players--heroes in the eyes of many Colombians.

The spectacle of these children overcoming hardship to perform in the middle of a packed stadium transformed them into heroes in the eyes of the spectators.

Additionally, Yamaha hired a film crew to document the children's growth over the 6 months to provide a visual testament of children creating a better future for themselves through their own hard work.

We chose a major football match to stage the performance to both provide the children with a powerful motivation--many Colombian children look up to football players--and provide a venue that would be attended by thousands of Colombians and watched on TV by millions more. We generated buzz for the event through social media submissions made by famous Colombian musicians and pop stars.

We also filmed the children as they practiced their instruments over the course of 6 months and edited the footage into an emotionally stirring documentary. We created interest in this movie through press coverage of the performance's behind-the-scenes details, as well as through videos of the performance spread by influencers.

We hoped that the performance as well as the documentary would generate more interest in the livelihood of children living in poverty and create a social movement based around the I'm a HERO Program.

The children entered the Estadio Atanasio Girardot stadium with their hometown football heroes, wearing custom uniforms featuring the "I'm a HERO" logo on their chests. The performance was watched by 40,000 people in the stands and by millions more on TV. The event was widely covered on national television, newspapers, websites, and social media. Meanwhile, the documentary filmed to depict the children's growth over the 6 months of the program was broadcast on TV and online, initially just in Colombia and then in other countries including Japan--Yamaha's home. A dedicated service website was set up to provide in-depth information to people who watched the documentary and wanted to learn more.

The children's performance was watched in the stands by 40,000 people and by millions more on TV across Colombia. The event was covered on the day by numerous major newspapers and on social media, where #ImAHero became the top-trending hashtag of the day on Colombian Twitter.

In the end, 39 media outlets and influencers spread word about the campaign, helping it reach 6 million people--12% of Colombia's population. Colombia's oldest national daily, El Espectador, published an article with the headline, "An instrument for becoming a hero," that covered not only the performance, but also the music program itself and featured interviews with the children.

Meanwhile, the documentary was broadcast on TV and online, initially just in Colombia and then in other countries including Japan--Yamaha's home. As a result, the campaign enjoyed 60 million social media impressions--helping Yamaha achieve its brand promise and greatly increase perception of the brand itself.