The Alphabet of Illiteracy brings together the problems illiteracy is proven to cause, with the solution.

The campaign juxtaposes the shocking reality of illiteracy with the childlike aesthetic of the alphabet, the foundation of literacy. The visually impactful approach is designed to be highly salient online and the contrast is designed to create a sense of unease to provoke a reaction and move illiteracy up the agenda.

It centers on the core film, for which we repurposed Perry Como’s “A, you’re Adorable” song, replacing the original innocent lyrics with the chilling consequences of illiteracy.

Each letter of the alphabet is brought to life with a figure of a person affected by a problem that illiteracy is proven to cause. Each link is proven by credible institutional research, available on the website. While there, they are asked to share the campaign and sign a petition, to show support for increased literacy.

The Alphabet campaign launched on 23rd February 2016 with the release of our campaign film via a number of seeding platforms across the US and UK. At the same time, model and activist Lily Cole launched the campaign with a rousing address at the Houses of Parliament in London.

This activity was designed to drive the conversation about illiteracy and viewers were encouraged to ‘spread the word’ and share the film. They were also encouraged to sign the petition and generate their name using the letters of our alphabet as a show of support in social.

We created 26 letter posts and gifs explaining individual letters that ran all over social media, achieving real visual standout. The campaign was designed to provoke debate so we actively managed the conversation in social to reinforce key points.

The campaign was supported by PR, cinema and print advertising to extend the reach.

- The campaign has created an entirely new conversation around illiteracy and one that lands the surprisingly negative impact it is having on the world.

- Over 6.5million film views across platforms

- Completed view rate twice the industry benchmark.

- 35,000 shares of the film

- 14,000 signatures and shares of unique names including Richard Branson and David Gandy

- 186 media articles including CNN, BBC, Channel Four, Times and Guardian

- Total audience reach of 462million across social and PR

- Traffic to partner websites up by 200%

- Project Literacy have been invited to sit on the UN Global Alliance for Literacy which puts improved literacy at the heart of achieving the Global Development Goals