An NGO want to gather fund for small weavers whose work they would like to exhibit. Prepare an advertisement for the NGO as required.
Answers
A camera pans over a chain link fence. Behind it, dozens of uniform-clad children—boys in crisp white shirts and girls in plaid jumpers with red ribbons in their hair—beam as a simple acoustic guitar plays and a child’s voice hums in tune with the melody in the background. Cut to children holding up signs telling you what “we" don’t do.
The “we" in the ad is non-profit organization Child Rights and You (CRY). Like many prominent NGOs, the Mumbai-based children’s aid organization used to receive odd requests. Even though it works for big-picture issues such as universal access to education and elimination of child labour, people would call to ask if they could donate the 100 blankets they had collected to their orphanages. The group doesn’t run any.
So, a few years ago, CRY, which represents many children’s advocacy groups, changed its name from Child Relief and You to reflect its focus on its fight for children’s rights. Like CRY, some non-profit organizations are turning to increasingly slick television and radio spots to get their message across.
For the advertisers, doing spots for social causes comes with additional advantages. These help win top prizes at international shows such as Cannes. Some commercials which win awards sometimes do not even see a public release—they are dubbed fake ads. “Come December, there are a lot of guys who walk into NGO offices and say, ‘Why don’t you let us release this?’" says Sajan Raj Kurup, now chairman and chief creative director of CreativeLand Asia, but who worked on the CRY campaign during his time with ad giant Grey. “They get exposure, the ad agency gets something out of it. It’s easy."
And for many NGOs, exposure is key.
For CRY, the idea was to create a strong brand. And, do it without tear-stained faces and disturbing images that often define advertising for charitable organizations, say its creators. “People don’t want to hear that the world is ending. They want to be presented with a solution or, at least, some little action they can take right now that is clearly linked to a solution to this problem," says Simon Collings, chief executive officer of the UK-based non-profit organization, The Resource Alliance, which supports an annual contest for the best promotion and ad campaigns.
“Say, the issue is drought. You have to tell them, ‘The Rs1,000 you donate today will buy 10 trees that can help improve water retention on the farms of poor rural families’," adds Collings. “You need to do more than make them see it. You need to make it as easy as possible for them to do something about it."
As the ad closes we learn what CRY does, thanks to another crop of signs from smiling children. They help “dest-roy barriers" of caste, gender and religion, lobby the government for child-friendly policies and help parents get children into school.
“A lot of social advertising features people crying, and has created a sense of gloom and doom. We wanted to change that. We really wanted to be optimistic," says CreativeLand’s Kurup.
The Heroes Project, a Mumbai-based HIV/AIDS awareness non-profit organization with ties to actor Richard Gere and socialite Parmeshwar Godrej, has tie-ups with Star TV for spots like the one featuring cricketer Rahul Dravid in the locker room, adding his equipment piece-by-piece like a warrior preparing for battle. The implied theme: Taking steps to prevent HIV/AIDS should be as routine as having the right equipment on the pitch.
But, only blue-chip organizations such as CRY, the Heroes Project, or groups working on the so-called fashionable issues—many point to HIV/AIDS—have the resources and connections to tie-up with the large media partners and land top celebrities like Dravid to be their public face. They get their voices heard, say representatives of non-profit organizations, while smaller organizations or groups doing controversial work are limited to online campaigns and old-fashioned word of mouth to spread their message, according to non-profit and advertis
Gentlemen, We are a Non-Government Organisation, NGO, group working for the welfare of rural women to make them self-sufficient.
We train them to prepare various food products like Papad, pickles, snacks, detergent powder, palm candy, and various other products.
We have already formed a group of youth who are ready to go to different villages to draw the attention of the village women for getting training with us.
We are ready to start work but have a shortage of funds to buy raw materials to start the work.
We, therefore appeal to you to kindly donate some money for starting our noble activity. Thanking you,