We communicate for impact.
We write interactive, human-centered stories, launch digital products like podcasts and social media campaigns, and monitor data-driven digital marketing strategies along the way.
The ITCILO offers creative communication solutions for individuals and institutions. Our team of digital media experts, project managers, designers, video makers, writers, and content strategists works with you to make your content count.
We do it all, from storytelling through interactive reports, podcasts, and documentaries; social media challenges and web-based promotions; search engine optimization and digital analytics; and so much more.
In 2021, our team launched the United Nations International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, a campaign spearheaded by the ILO. To do so, we used a design thinking approach – including stakeholder mapping, user needs assessments, and content brainstorming exercises – to build an engagement strategy based on empathy and human-centered storytelling.
Over the course of the year, we built a communication strategy that garnered more than 300 concrete commitments from pledge makers in the form of Action Pledges. In addition, we launched a social media challenge joined by thousands of celebrities and global leaders.
To do it, we first created a call to action, key messages, and a unique hashtag – the building blocks of a digital ecosystem. Then, we built and managed a mini-site that evolved into a full website where people could deepen their knowledge, get inspired, and take action. Finally, we tailored our messages to different platforms on social media and tracked progress along the way.
Our team also produced a Trello board for visual assets and ready-to-post social media cards, hosted local and regional events to spread awareness, and sent out a monthly newsletter to a mailing list of more than 10,000 people.
Since 2022, we have been producing a series of interactive stories in collaboration with the ILO and the U.S. Department of Labour. These narratives use an empathetic approach to explore the challenges and triumphs of children, activists, and key partners around the world in the fight to end child labour and modern slavery.
The stories, a series of 10, seek to raise awareness about the realities of child labour and modern slavery in six countries: the Philippines, Morocco, Viet Nam, Jordan, Nepal, and Serbia. To produce them, we interviewed project participants and stakeholders, hired and directed local filmmakers, designed page mockups and user experience flows, and developed them into a coherent final product.
In one special story, we interviewed Brazilian actor and ILO Goodwill Ambassador Wagner Moura. His powerful words and memories of living with modern slavery as a child are the thread that ties the narratives together. The power of storytelling is its ability to change hearts and minds on the issues that matter most.
Video has a unique ability to evoke strong emotion in viewers by showing stories of hardship and perseverance. Through interviews, scene-setting snapshots, and up-close details, it has the power to raise awareness about important issues, mobilize funds and volunteers, and highlight the positive impact of development work.
For example, we ran the communication campaign and created the documentary for the Dignità in Campo project, a development initiative that sought to raise awareness about migrant workers’ rights in Italy. The documentary follows a series of characters, including workers, trade unions, and government representatives, as they try to patch up the treacherous terrain of being a seasonal worker vulnerable to exploitation.
Additionally, during the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour, we created a series of videos optimized for social media to promote the event. The explainer video shows why the event is relevant right now and describes the key objectives of the conference. Each day, we produced an interview video with one key stakeholder. Finally, this wrap-up video provides an overview of the highlights of the event – perfect for attendees to reshare on social media.
We use insights from analytics tools deployed across a multitude of digital platforms to optimize our content strategies according to data, not our assumptions. That means we can find pain points and opportunities that would otherwise go unnoticed, and update our strategy while it’s still ongoing.
Our holistic planning and reporting processes take into account entire digital ecosystems that rely upon various touchpoints. After defining key performance indicators (KPIs), we follow up on content actions to understand the scope and level of engagement. We then present these findings to our clients in a user-friendly format.
For example, we use tools like Mouseflow, Google Analytics, and Google Data Studio to track and analyze data, identify trends, and understand our client base. These insights allow us to create actionable reports like the ones we made for the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour and for the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.
The websites that we build are designed to reach global audiences and usually promote projects related to sustainable development. Websites are the public face of any organization or initiative, and serve to provide information, facilitate external relations, and boost content like news and events.
We build websites entirely, including design, development, content writing, visuals, and imagery. For example, we created the website for the ILO’s Vision Zero Fund programme. This engaging, functional, and easy-to-use website is user-driven and looks and works well on desktop, tablet, and mobile. It was designed according to the programme’s brand guidelines.
Another example of a website that we built is Dignità in Campo. We had the opportunity to design the entire brand identity, including color palette, typography, logo, photos, illustrations, and brand guidelines, all of which shaped the content strategy that followed.
Most people use email every day for communication, so newsletters are an effective way to connect with audiences and meet strategic goals. Through newsletters, we can disseminate content that people can reshare, promote stories and other content, and drive traffic to other elements of the digital ecosystem (website and social media). We use a goal-driven content plan to set up email campaigns that fit overall project objectives.
For example, we designed and developed email templates and wrote the content for the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour as well as for the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour. We segmented the audiences into various lists, such as interested individuals, social media managers, and news outlets, and changed the content accordingly.
Social media is one of the best ways to establish a brand, influence people, and build a community online today. We keep up with the constantly changing nature of various social media platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Our trained specialists know how to develop a strategic social media plan, implement effective campaigns, and track analytics to measure success.
For example, we used social media to raise awareness and create a sustained movement around the International Year and the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour. We repackaged the content originally posted on the websites, in reports, and other resources and also launched social media challenges.
We commonly use Trello boards to disseminate materials to communities, stakeholders, and partners, so they can easily copy and paste content and reshare social media cards instead of coming up with their own ideas. This way, we ensure that our communication is always on-brand and take the friction out of participation.
Drop us a line at learninginnovation@itcilo.org with any questions you may have.
Un grand merci à l'équipe du CIF-OIT pour ce programme C4D conçu de main de maître et foisonnant d'expériences pratiques et d'apprentissage. Pour quiconque s'intéresse à la communication visuelle, à la narration ou au plaidoyer interculturel, je recommande vivement ce cours.