Global Fairtrade campaign via Sydney agency Generation Alliance talks to a new generation

Fairtrade has heralded a bold new movement, linking consumers directly to their ‘Fair Story’ through a interactive film that exploits the latest in social media to deliver a ‘shared experience’.

VIEW THE 90 SECOND FILM

The 90 second film and social media platform was the brain child of Sydney creative agency, Generation Alliance (Gen.a), who led a global team of creatives across four continents to produce a beautiful film with the potential to dramatically multiply the impact and understanding of Fairtrade.

Having worked across 24 countries on the Fairtrade brand strategy over the previous two years, Gen.a saw the need to shift the Fairtrade conversation from a traditional marketing approach to a connective invitation to consumers to be ‘part of the story’ personally and as a community.  

Filmed in Nyeri, Africa, ‘Fair Story’ lives on a microsite inviting individuals around the world to participate in raising awareness and building understanding of Fairtrade.”This strikes at the very heart of today’s consumer consciousness. We have created something that grows with each viewing, adding potency to the message of Fairtrade while increasing reach – ultimately driving more sales and more value back to producers”, says Nick Morgan, ECD at Gen.a.

To underscore this and gain wider than usual reach, a unique creative approach was required says Morgan: “A passive film on Youtube was never going to create the engagement and reward we were looking for in the campaign, so we partnered with multi-platform communication specialists, The Sweet Shop and The Rumpus Room to deliver on the visual and viral engagement the story richly deserves.”

The Rumpus Room tackled the interactive/social network angle of Gen.a’s brief, “We viewed this as an amazing opportunity to create a multi-layered, responsive experience that combines the emotional journey of film with the personal and collective nature of social networking”. Says Tom Roope, Creative Technical Director/Founder of The Rumpus Room.

When it came to the film, The Sweet Shop director Jeff Wood brought to the table his skills in humanity imbued film craft with an approach that combines the personable qualities of storytelling, live action and stop frame. He explains: “I was genuinely drawn to the underlining message, but also the creative potential. A pop-up storybook framework seemed like the perfect format for the journey aspect of the narrative, while stop frame offered the naïve charm. All this, coupled with our real people shot on location in Fairtrade Gikanda Kenya, provided the authenticity required to capture our viewer’s hearts.”

This degree of dimensionality heralds this project as the first ever ‘filmic petition’ of its type.

fairstory.com

Client:  Fairtrade

Production Company:  The Sweet Shop

Digital Production:  The Rumpus Room

Production Designer:  Tom Wales

Production Service Company:  Ginger Ink (Kenya)