M&C Saatchi has teamed up with The Voice Newspaper to help boost completion of the Black British Voices project.
The Black British Voices project is the inaugural national enquiry into the ‘Black British experience’, developed in partnership with the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge and consultancy group I-Cubed.
In order to encourage black British people to complete the survey, The Voice Newspaper has worked with M&C Saatchi to develop an impactful “Tick it to change it” campaign.
The work asks black communities the question: “Can we write our own Black British narrative?” before inviting people to complete the Black British Voices study as a means to bringing about meaningful change.
The print ads show business owners, teachers, and other leaders within their fields demonstrating through a ‘tick’ hand gesture that with collective action, we can make change happen.
Each execution draws on a specific societal problem that the Black British Voices project aims to change, from getting diversity into the boardroom to bringing Black history into classrooms.
As part of the push, The Voice Newspaper and M&C Saatchi are also working with the wider black community and young influencers, asking them to post a photo of the tick pose, in order to boost completion and extend reach.
Annabel Mackie, managing partner, M&C Saatchi said: “We’re thrilled to be part of this important initiative. The campaign we’ve developed in partnership with The Voice and Cambridge University aims to create a movement amongst black Britons, calling them to come together at this pivotal moment in order to bring about change for themselves and those around them.”
‘Tick it to change it’ is another example of how an increasing number of UK media agencies are focused on working with diverse media owners, following research that suggests mass audience platforms such as TV and radio reach disproportionately lower minority groups.
In the past year, WPP’s MediaCom has launched its “inclusive planning” initiative and Havas Media has launched a “social equity marketplace”.
More recently, Dentsu UK launched Together, aiming to provide brands with a broader, more diverse set of media owners in order to reach under-represented audiences.
