The world’s attention is on Covid but a much older disease is still killing people. Malaria is the world’s oldest deadliest disease. It kills one child every two minutes. dentsu International formed a three-year pro bono partnership with Malaria No More UK to eradicate it and Draw The Line Against Malaria, is its newest campaign.
Draw The Line Against Malaria invites youth from across Africa and the globe to join the movement and people to share the cinematic hero film, directed by Nigerian music video director, Meji Alabi. The film shows off the captivating talent and energy coming from the African continent – Dr Omotola J Ekeinde, Nigerian actress and philanthropist; Osas Ighodaro, Nigerian American actress and producer; Saray Khumalo, South African explorer; Eliud Kipchoge, Olympic Gold-medallist and marathon world record-holder; Siya Kolisi, captain of the Springboks, South Africa’s World Cup winning rugby team; and Sherrie Silver, award-winning Rwandan British choreographer.
The stars are joined by global artist, Láolú Senbanjo, and a team of malaria community champions who feature in different scenes to tell the human story of malaria and the devastating impact it has on their education, employment, health and prospects. With 74% of Africans now aged under 35, the youth contingent are powerful agents of change and the campaign represents a rallying cry for them to step up action in the fight against malaria.
At the heart of the campaign is a fresh new universal visual language made up of lines, symbols and patterns, the Muundo created by acclaimed Nigerian artist, activist, and human rights lawyer, Láolú Sebanjo, designed to inspire young people to show their support for the malaria fight. Youth across cultures and continents are invited to add their unique line to the Zero Malaria website: www.zeromalaria.org and contribute to a collective message asking world leaders to step up the fight against malaria.
Each line will create a unique piece of art that is added to a globally crowdsourced mural. The artwork will be presented to world leaders as a collective message of solidarity powered by the people at the Malaria and NTDs Summit on 24 June 2021, on the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda. The Summit is a milestone moment in the malaria fight and enabler of game changing political decisions including delivering the commitment to halve malaria across the Commonwealth by 2023.
dentsu teams from Amsterdam, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Geneva, London, Nairobi and New York worked in collaboration with a collection of agencies, including the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), the African Union Commission, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Impact Santé Afrique, Malaria No More UK, RBM Partnership to End Malaria and Speak Up Africa.
The creative and strategy was led by Isobar Amsterdam with dentsu media agencies, iProspect and Carat, collaborating to drive media planning across multiple African markets including Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia as well as target donor markets including the UK, USA, Japan and Australia. The digital platform was created by Isobar in collaboration with Firstborn.
Daniël Sytsma, chief design officer, Isobar & creative at dentsu, stated, “We worked with creators and makers from across Africa to design this campaign as a movement, one that celebrates the creativity and positivity from a generation that is ready to claim their future. With the Muundo we want to provide young people with the tools and the language to deliver a powerful message.”
The campaign is part of dentsu’s commitment to use power of media and advertising to drive delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In April 2018, at the Malaria Summit in London, dentsu International helped secure a $4.1 billion pledge from governments, science and the private sector, which would help accelerate research and development of new tools for the malaria fight and expand access to life-saving tools. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London 53 Heads of Government committed to halve malaria in the Commonwealth by 2023. To date, dentsu has invested over 10,000 volunteer hours in the Malaria No More partnership and committed to reach over 300 million people with campaigns calling for an end to malaria.
Anna Lungley, chief sustainability officer, dentsu international, commented, “Malaria is one of the world’s deadliest diseases and kills a child every two minutes. Africa carries the highest burden and it is alarming that COVID-19 may result in malaria deaths rising by 50% as access to healthcare, medicines and essential services is interrupted. Draw The Line Against Malaria is a stunning example of creative collaboration across dentsu’s global agency teams that we hope will inspire a generation to unite and take action to end malaria for good. We are delighted to partner with Malaria No More on this campaign.”
Dr Elvis Ikechukwu Eze, a young medical doctor and malaria youth champion from Nigeria, noted, “If my generation looks around, they will see how malaria affects them. We must unite to defeat this disease once and for all. We can educate ourselves, inform our friends and work within our communities to get rid of them locally. We must ensure that no avenue is overlooked to eradicate malaria.”
Campaign Partners:
Global partners: the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), the African Union (AU), The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Impact Santé Afrique, dentsu International, Malaria No More UK, RBM Partnership to End Malaria and Speak Up Africa
Supporting Partners: Goodbye Malaria, Rentokil Initial, Restless Development. Results, Sanofi, Target Malaria, and ViacomCBS Networks Africa
Broadcast partner: DStv
Creative & Brand Strategy: dentsu International
Main campaign film: Black Dog (part of Ridley Scott Creative Group), JM Films, DentsuACHTUNG!, Láolú NYC, Daniel Obasi, Ugo Mozie, Wave, Trim Editing, TSE, Big Buoy.
Behind the Scenes film: Fiksa, Dafe Oboro, Mark Pengelly, Nicole Eveleigh
Digital: Isobar, Firstborn, Facebook
Media: Carat, iProspect
Film music: Muanapoto, performed by Tshegue. Written & composed by Faty Sy Savanet and Nicolas Dacunha-Castelle. Courtesy of Ekler’o’shock and Dakou Studios
