We wanted to translate real, micro-economic development and strategic non-profit work into a consumer-facing product that people could easily understand and purchase. The video project shows the life cycle of a product as a means of not only highlighting the meaningful work that gets done but the consumer value it creates. If you connect social impact investments to the value proposition those investments have on a consumer, you can give it a face, you can position a brand and ultimately, you can develop a lasting bond that connects consumers to the people that product helped. We want to give social impact a brand that people find interesting and change the consumers perception of what they should expect from brands.
We were funny. We were light-hearted. And we were real. The strategy was simple - focus on the facts and the people and wrap it up in a sense of humor that feels approachable and accessible. It doesn't need to be more complicated than that. In this case the truth was so compelling that the role of the team producing the video content, developing the story and editing the film, was limited to only identifying the tone and voice.
We built a park in the middle of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. We planted 2,000 trees with another 10,000 on the way. We spent nearly $400,000 trucking in grass, irrigation equipment, cement and fencing. We employed 10 full-time local people to regularly irrigate the park. We built a grass soccer field - the only irrigated park and grass soccer field within 100 miles. We built gazebos and sitting areas. We brought something unexpected and beautiful to a community that has almost nothing. There are two reasons this is impactful. 1) We build a unique sense of pride for the community, owning and being part of the park (having the park and using it!). 2) More importantly, the park will draw local tourists from all over to use the park and the added traffic flow will provide a new channel for revenue to local businesses. It will ultimately live beyond initial investment and return one hundred times over both financially and culturally. It's not a crutch; it's a leg up. The result of this work is simple. We do this work, and we get first and direct access to their rare cashmere, which we, in turn, translated into a business that sells sweaters - 100% cashmere sweaters - for just 75 dollars.
