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The Alphabet of Illiteracy film brings together the problems illiteracy is proven to cause, with the solution, the Alphabet. It juxtaposes the shocking reality of illiteracy with the childlike aesthetic of the alphabet in an impactful way designed to provoke a feeling of unease.

The music was key to this and 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.

We optimised the film for the social space with a title frame that works without the sound and posing an interesting question about what your life would be like if you couldn’t read. It also seeds the illustrations people will see within the film.

Our CTA was to spread the word to encourage sharing.

The Alphabet film launched on 23rd February 2016 with the release of our campaign film via a number of seeding platforms across the US and UK that included Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, Unruly, Virool and Bright Roll. The seeding plan was implemented for 3 weeks.

The film was optimised for each platform with different opening frames to make the most of the 3-5 second window.

We targeted people with an interest in specific issues featured in the Alphabet through individual letter posts that would then lead to the hero film.

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.

Although 1 in 10 people worldwide are illiterate, being unable to read or write is unfathomable for the majority of us because we learn so early. We think it is the inability to read a book, but it is much more devastating.

Imagine not being able to read the back of your child’s medicine bottle.

The UN has proven illiteracy underpins most major societal problems including many health issues. Improved literacy can positively impact issues such as AIDs, the spread of Ebola and other contagious diseases, Infant Mortality, Malnutrition and Life Expectancy.

Our strategy was to land this link in a way that could not be ignored or forgotten and get people to sit up and take notice of illiteracy. We would drive a conversation among the millennial audience in the USA and UK, because they have the loudest share of voice online and the biggest propensity to give charitably.

Worldwide, 757 million people are illiterate. That’s a population the size of a continent whose true potential remains dormant, or simply put, it means that 1 in every 10 people cannot read or write a single sentence.

Project Literacy is the flagship CSR programme of Pearson, the world’s biggest learning company. Through Project Literacy, Pearson has convened a large group of literacy NGOs, and aim to use their power as a brand to help these partners make significant and sustainable advances in the fight against illiteracy.

Despite the scale of the problem, illiteracy barely registers on the global agenda; people think illiteracy means the inability to read a book or write a letter but the impact is far more fundamental than that. Our brief was to raise awareness of the impact of illiteracy and create a conversation that can start to drive a real difference.