An Idea With A Passport

In my career, my biggest struggle has been creating ideas that resonate with people outside my worldview.?

In the early days, I struggled to conceptualize for a target from lower income households. It was easy to do same for a mid to high-income target, but connecting with the bottom of pyramid (bop) was difficult. It was hard and it took time but I fixed it. Now, a lot of my best work was inspired by a bop insight. Like this radio here. It was fun to write, easy to cast and exciting to direct. I love it to bits and it’s done wonders for my client.

?As I grew to become creatively responsible for communication targeting people from 22 countries, the problem resurfaced in a greater way. I’ve spent most of my life in Ghana, so how do I create for a Senegalese Mum? Or a Nigerian, Ivorian, Cameroonian or even an Angolan mum? This made that earlier challenge feel like Lego.

The LCD Factor.

Do you remember those maths problems in primary school where you had to find the lowest common denominator of several numbers? I’ve come to realize how that principle works with people too.

When you keep peeling away you arrive at a deep spot of commonality that transcends borders.

Our language, dressing, money, education, religion and cultures confuse us. Beneath all these there is a sameness to what drives us. That’s where powerful insights reside. That’s why you see a great NIKE commercial saying “Believe in something, even if it means losing everything” and it connects with you on multiple levels.?

I’m not there yet, but I’ve done something that may just be my most meaningful campaign yet. I am passionate about child development and I believe in the power of right education to change the future of an individual and a continent.

?Years ago, my friend Kofi sparked a thought that made me question the usefulness of our education system for even our toddlers. That conversation sent me down a rabbit hole and landed me on the concept of ‘Executive Functions’.

Executive Functions is more important than anything in your child’s syllabus!

It has the power to turbo-charge what your child can become. Then I thought how unfortunate it was that so few parents knew about this. Surely, any normal parent from any culture from any country would want to know how to improve their child’s chances of succeeding in life, right?

That thought was this idea’s passport.

Fortunately, I have an awesome client with a brand that shares my passion for child development. They loved it!

A few months down the line, with incredible teamwork, super complex productions, true agency-client collaboration and countless hours of painstaking work, I am so proud and happy that NIDO Heart2Heart has just officially come alive in...

English...

French...

and Portuguese...

?It will be promoted to mums across West Africa and in Angola and will be broadcast on TV in some of the countries. Follow all the action on the NIDO Mums Facebook page here;

?For every mum who gets to know that they can be more intentional in how formidable their child becomes and how to go about it with the tips in this campaign, we would have achieved what it was set out to.

Thank God for ideas with passports!