Unicef visualises utopian scenarios to promote children's rights

UNICEF began operations in 1946 to assist children who were affected by WWII by providing emergency healthcare and food. The organisation’s mission now focuses on the protection of human rights directly associated with children.

Its “I Believe In Zero” campaign aims to promote awareness about the rights of children to survival, development, protection and participation—leading to scenarios of zero mortality, zero illiteracy, zero abuse and zero isolation rates.

KymeChow Communications was tasked with creating a 30-second commercial for this. "We lead children to believe in many things (fairies, Santa, monsters, dragons) but here is something concrete that they can really believe in," said Chris Kyme, director of the independent agency.

Commenting on how bold the goals of zero are, UNICEF's head of marketing & digital, Rosemary Tan said: "We need to be ambitious before we can achieve anything. It's an advocacy angle and an equity approach. We will keep taking a swing at children-related problems until there is zero suffering."

"I think it is a good hardworking campaign, it's not earth-shattering creative, but the key message is good," Kyme added.

The campaign's core idea is to educate people in Hong Kong about the work Unicef is doing, and Kymechow consciously wanted to avoid using images of starving children in poor countries - the usual charity marketing route in fund-raising appeals.

UNICEF's Tan also told Campaign Asia-Pacific she preferred not to use disturbing images because "we wanted to respect the children instead of capitalising on their suffering, and to convince the general public that our work was valuable".

The one-year awareness campaign will run on Focus Media screens in elevator waiting areas of commercial buildings, posters at bus shelters, KMB bus bodies, Motion Power platforms in local taxis, as well as the Times Square outdoor video screen based on media rates for charities.

Credits:

Client: UNICEF Hong Kong

Agency: Kymechow

Creative Director: Lorraine Liu

Art Director: Dominic Chan

Copy: Flora Chow

Production House: Mutual Workshop

Director: James Leung

Producer: Suzanne Tung

Exposure: Online, OOH