Loeries 2017: Iziko Slave Museum shows the history of a name

media update’s Adam Wakefield spoke to Geometry’s executive creative director, Gavin Wood, about the campaign and why they took it to the Loeries in 2016, where it won Gold for Brand Identity & Collateral Design – General Collateral.      

In a nutshell, what was the inspiration behind the Iziko Slave Lodge Museum campaign?

The idea came from the understanding that not enough has been done to tell the story of South Africa’s history of slavery. Our client, Iziko Museums of South Africa, and the Iziko Slave Museum in Cape Town hold all the artefacts, historical facts and insights about this past — but the majority South Africans are still unaware of their origins in slavery. In an effort to increase awareness and raise this discussion, we set out to create a pivotal idea that was worthy of such a sensitive subject. 

The actual insight for the idea came from a visit to the museum, where we learnt about the fact that enslaved people who were brought to Cape Town were stripped of their name and given a new one based on the month that they arrived at the Cape. This is not a widely known fact and led to the formation of the idea for The Slave Calendar project. We always felt this initiative needed to be more than a calendar. But, with a small budget, which included no media, we strategically sensed the investment in print could gain traction in social and stir a PR conversation.

How did you go about finding the different people featured in the advert, how much time did it take to put together, and what was the type of feedback you received from people who viewed the campaign for the first time?

After presenting the idea to Iziko and getting their approval, we set about tracking down people with calendar month surnames. We had a few leads from Iziko from the people who work for them. But, ultimately, there was a lot of cold calling from the Western Cape Telephone Directory. We also used “All Staff” emails internally and through some of our client connections.

Facebook was useful in finding the younger candidates, but, ultimately, we wanted to interview and photograph the elders in the family. At the same time as this was going on, we had to negotiate with photographers and film directors if they would be willing to do this pro bono. We were extremely lucky to get David Prior, South Africa’s most awarded photographer, to commit his services as he fully believed in the idea and wanted to make it happen. This took about three months; to co-ordinate the list and get the photographs.

Through the process, one of the interesting things was that about half of the people we shared the idea with did not know that their surname was based in slavery. This lead most to find out more about their heritage and digging deeper into their family roots. For those that were aware, the overwhelming response was that of gratitude and a plea for more to be done to elevate the conversation of our slavery heritage in South Africa. Mostly, we were battling against a legacy of shame and generations of silence about the subject — but, ultimately, what we found was an overwhelming sense of hope.

The final printed calendar was seeded to relevant and significant influencers. This received a profoundly positive response in the media - on radio talk shows and news channels. The creation of the project also meant a lot for the final 12 descendants involved, and we created a special event at the Slave Lodge for the final unveiling.

Each of them received the beautifully crafted Slave Calendar as a gift for their integral participation in the project. The guest speaker was activist and former Constitutional Court judge, Albie Sachs. Press and dignitaries were invited to find out more and, hopefully, spread the word. This was a very poignant moment and a culmination of a lot of effort and co-ordination from the team.

Why did you decide to enter this campaign into the Loeries?

We were looking for any additional coverage we could get. With the Loeries being the top award show in South Africa, we strategically thought the work had a decent chance to resonate with the judges, because it is such a locally relevant initiative. We also entered other award shows and had success at Cannes Lions. When you win an award like the Loeries or Cannes, it really does help leverage more talk-ability and PR for the campaign and your clients’ business.

As an agency, what are the advantages of being associated with the Loeries?

For us, if you win at the Loeries, it really does validate your belief in a piece of work. The recognition from your peers is great, but the ultimate prize is when we create something of significance for our clients. It definitely also brought new client opportunities, plus it strengthens current client relationships. Which, in turn, opens up the discussion to do braver, more creative work, on existing pieces of business.

How gratifying was it to receive Gold for the campaign? Has the museum benefitted since from the campaign?

Creativity and passion are what we do. We were truly ecstatic with the win and it means so much to the team who put in the extra effort and passion. It goes without saying that our client, Iziko, was very happy with the exposure. 

Since the Loeries win, the work has gone on to be an ongoing exhibition at the Slave Museum, and this, together with the exposure and earned media, has letad to an increased number of visitors to the museum by 26% — which makes us very proud and means the most to our client.

For more information, visit loeries.com or www.iziko.org.za.

Interested in other Loeries’ winners? Read more in our article, Loeries 2017: The story behind the Ster Kinekor #OpenEyes campaign.