Challenge

The impacts of COVID-19 stretch way beyond health implications. UNICEF Regional Office South Asia (ROSA) challenged Magenta with two main questions:

• What are the unaddressed impacts of COVID-19 in South Asia?

• How can UNICEF’s Communication for Development team respond at the regional level to support the capacity of individual Country Offices across such a diverse landscape of contexts?

Our Social And Behavioural Insight

• Research found high incidences of misinformation surrounding religious behaviour, exacerbating existing stigma and discrimination of ethnic groups.

• Mental stress was cited as a key challenge by 2 out of 5 research participants – second only to physical restrictions, and t majority consider Covid-19 as something stressful and fear-inducing.

• Maintenance of long-term, key life-saving behaviours such as breastfeeding and immunization had dramatically declined.

• The three key areas of Stigma & Discrimination, Mental Health and Life-Saving Behaviours were defined as impact priorities and the foundational insight for our strategy.

Strategic Approach

• We identified the core outcome of encouraging the practice of kindness and solidarity at every level of society and through brainstorming sessions with Country Offices and research, defined the TeamKind campaign.

• Creating a brand reaching across both offline and online channels, the campaign would release content designed to encourage individual and societal action in the name of kindness and solidarity for use by Country Offices.

• Five thematic packs were designed break down a broad audience into specific target groups or themes with the appropriate channels. Although later the religious leader pack was dropped due to limited resources

Rapid Research and Message Testing

MAGENTA conducted a mixed methodology research phase including desk review, 4 in country surveys and key stakeholder interviews across the UNICEF country offices. The research used country level insights to identify regional trends and allowed us to identify the scope areas and central brand.

• We developed the #TeamKind brand and tested the name and logo in 2 phases:

  • The first phase was a series of target audience questionaires designed to use A/B testing principles.

  • The second phase was a series of consultations with UNICEF key stakeholders.

• The result was an agreed brand and name that would front the messaging strategy.

What We Did

• In Phase 1 we conducted extensive research on behavioural insights effecting the way people responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. We identified problems common across all countries that would suit a regional strategy. After the research, we collaboratively designed the strategic approach to support Country Officers with centralized content.

• We created the #TeamKind brand that allowed national level content to be unified at the regional level while remaining specific to the country’s specific target audience needs. This was done through the creation of a cast of #TeamKind characters who could be utilized to tell any story required centered on the message of kindness.

• We created content for all channels across all strategic areas including: Videos, radio broadcasts and graphics and information for posters, leaflets, brochures and social media posts. To support this content, we provided release strategies and recommended messaging.

• We also created a cast of female characters known as the SHeroes who would be able to tell these messages, using women as the channel.

• A special project was created to support the work of a local artist expressing emotions caused by lockdown through her creative medium of photography and fashion design, known as the Almirah campaign.