GIL by UNICEF

Creating A Sense of Belonging and Empowerment for GIL, UNICEF

Project Type
Digital Marketing

Location
Lebanon

Industry
Non Profit

Challenge

GIL (Generation of Innovation Leaders) is a UNICEF developed program that addresses high unemployment rates among marginalized youth in Lebanon and works to solve their lack of access to the knowledge economy.

GIL aims to support and empower young people in Lebanon by identifying their needs and providing them with resources in order to help build their skills, access employment opportunities and develop innovative, income-generating solutions to problems within the area.

They commissioned Blue Hat to create a digital communication strategy that aims to build a sense of belonging within a like-minded community - which is a major part of the GIL's program ethos. Our challenge was ensuring that the latter notion of creating the sense of belonging and community was at the forefront of all digital efforts.

Intervention

We started off with an internal audit that consisted of several research techniques; SWOT analysis, online media scan of the active channels, physical site visits to collect insights, and shadowing exercises during community’s training sessions to map out audience’s needs and analyse their behaviour. We combined our outcomes with industry trends and case studies to harness any lessons learned.

Later on, we set our communication aims which followed through with the target audience, brand personality, style, tone of voice and then digital channels map which included themes, publishing times and frequency, yearly calendar, and moderation guidelines. We finalized the strategy by designing their graphic and photography guidelines for their social media platforms.

Within the strategy, we emphasized on the 'highlights' to ensure that their values are reflected in the designs and that they serve not only as a communication tool on Instagram, but also as a way to showcase the GIL brand and what it stands for. We also designed quirky and fun IG stickers and GIFs to be used by young people who officially become GILers after participating in the programs.

Results

Our aim was to establish GIL as a community where current and potential beneficiaries as well as alumni can feel that they belong, take ownership of the communication platforms and network with each other.

Through our strategy based on two-way communication; GIL managed to build an online community, increased its brand awareness and maximized outreach through visually appealing and engaging content, and developed an online presence as a sustainable ecosystem through training sessions on digital media.