Looking back, we can say that this was the project that made La Incre as we know it today. This was an opportunity to prove that if you create your project starting from the audience’s point of view it is easier to connect with them using traditional marketing strategies, even though it is a social topic.
Background
Ecuador has some alarming numbers regarding teen pregnancy. That’s why the government created ENIPLA (Estrategia Nacional de Planificación Familiar y Prevención de Embarazo en Adolescentes) as a joint program that unified all the efforts made by the Ministries in matters of Sexual and Reproductive Health.
The United Nations Population Fund tasked us with creating the brand that will identify ENIPLA. This was a very big challenge for us because it meant creating a brand that would be everywhere and because it was our first step in the defense of Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Ecuador.
The process
To tackle this challenge, we teamed with professionals that usually don’t work with advertising agencies. We searched for educators, anthropologists and other specialists so we could have a very wide range of opinions.
From the very start we aimed to create something relevant for our audience, taking their interests and needs in account. This might seem like an obvious thing but working with the government usually means designing something that the boss likes and approves.
Creating the name was a difficult thing because we realized that it was the first time that the government tried to talk about sexuality in an open way, without taboos.
Our proposal was “Habla Serio”, a phrase that has 2 meanings. Its literal meaning is to take sexuality seriously. But the most important part was the colloquial meaning, which is a way to say: talk to me openly and sincerely. Since this second meaning is a little vague, we created a slogan that would make it very clear: “Sexuality without mysteries”.
The next step was creating a brand that suited the name and broke the mold that people are used to with government programs. We creted a lively, joyful and diverse brand that was as far from a government initiative as possible because, let’s be honest, nobody wants a bureocrat teaching them about sexuality.
We used all the images related to sexuality and mixed them in a new shape that reinforced the need to talk.
Implementation
When we where developing the identity system for Habla Serio we needed to create two different products: a brand guide and a brand book. This last document talked about the ideas behind the brand and its personality rather than its design so other people could understand it.
One fundamental piece of our strategy was creating a platform that would be the common ground for all the communicational products. That website was created by the same team that helped us with the name and so we got a very powerful tool that was friendly and very useful.
We also created an interactive platform for social media that, sadly, was never implemented.
As an agency, our involvement with the project surpassed what our contract demanded. Our interest in the cause and the affection we had with the project made us work with many other people and institutions as brand consultants.
An unexpected turn
The opportunities that Habla Serio and EMIPLA created were suddenly bloqued by a sudden change of mind in Ecuado’s government. Rafael Correa betrayed his word by eliminating ENIPLA and replacing it with “Plan Familia” an Opus Dei initiative with a far-right agenda.
Plan Familia was never implemented and even if it was, it would have not been effective at all. With Habla Serio it was clear that teenagers don’t want governmente institutions to repress their sexuality. What they are looking for is information that comes without judgement and that takes their needs in consideration.
Even though Habla Serio was destroyed we are very proud of our work. We know it was a valuable initiative that tackled an importat issue with an innovative view.