Communication Strategy

After completing a few step of research, I’m ready to begin brainstorming! Completing the research has allowed me to have a more clear vision of what direction I want to take my product.

 

v i s u a l  l a n g u a g e

Since Mary’s Meals builds kitchens onto schools in developing countries and provides porridge as the one daily meal the children receive, there are a few things I could do with that:

• a spoon
• a bowl
• a bowl with a spoon
• outline of Africa (this is mainly where Mary’s Meals helps)
• a child with a bowl
• a child in the classroom
• an image of students receiving porridge
• a child raising their hand in a classroom reaching for a bowl (this might be a stretch)

i m a g e  d r i v e n

My visuals will be imagine driven. It’s one thing to tell someone about what Mary’s Meals is and what it does, but I think most of the time actions images speak louder than words. Especially in this situation when you’re just asking for sometimes time and money, they need to see it to believe it.

 

t y p e s  o f  i m a g e s

• pictures of the actual children receiving Mary’s Meals
• stats with the amount of children receiving Mary’s Meals
• locations
• the schools, the kitchens
• maybe a background of a child’s face and a quote on the bottom
• background of an image and a hashtag on the bottom #ASimpleSolution (Mary’s Meals tagline is “A Simple Solution to World Hunger”
• a bunch of children holding their porridge cups
• lots of B L UE, Mary’s Meals central color is blue so I need to incorporate that in any way

c o n n o t a t i o n s

The images need to make the target audience feel something. Instead of making them think “oh they’re just taking my money” they need to SEE the reactions on the children’s faces when they receive Mary’s Meals. There’s nothing more moving then a true, genuine, candid smile and laughter from a child who literally has nothing but a simple bowl of porridge has made his entire day and is keeping him/her in school and alive. The good in the organization needs to shine. Forget the behind the scenes and how much money it costs for construction and building, it’s the lives that matter and using the images of children provide that connotation of that warm, fuzzy feeling you get in your heart when you simply do something good for someone with nothing in return. That’s what it’s all about, and if the images and messages can’t convey that then we’ve lost our audience completely. This audience doesn’t need to be overwhelmed with a lot of talk, they need to be won over with emotions.

This might be a little crazy but I’m kind of envisioning a business card  with an image on the background of a child’s face. I know it sounds like it might be busy and where would she put the writing and on and on, but I think one side needs to just be a child. Nothing else. The other side can include my name, the logo and contact information, still keeping it simple but providing a little more information. How could you look at the face of a child who is happy to receive ONE daily meal and not feel convinced to help?

 

Pinterest Board: Business Card/ Letterhead Inspiration 

Pinterest Board: Mood Board