What’s the background
Experian’s global consumer product team does great work in Asia and Latin America, and wanted to showcase real stories of people there to help them embed more into those markets. They wanted this not to be just a marketing exercise – their goal was to showcase real stories of financial exclusion and help spread the word of the issues people face in accessing credit in those countries, something Experian is working to resolve.
What was the solution?
We produced Identities of the World, a series of stories about people in India, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. We started off with editorial long-form stories and an animated video about three people across different states in India. The project then evolved into documentary film-led storytelling. We worked with the UNHCR to identify people in Colombia and Brazil that had migrated to those countries, as they form a significant part of the population, as well as a couple of other people with compelling backgrounds – such as an ex-FARC member who became a microbrewer. We then worked with documentary filmmakers in those countries to film their stories. Finally we worked with Experian in Peru to tell the stories of people in the Amazon who couldn’t grow their businesses and improve the wellbeing of their community because of a lack of access to the internet. Experian also worked with a non-profit in the area to train and empower those communities successfully – and we filmed the whole journey.
What impact did it have?
Identities of the World had a huge impact. The videos reached over 3.5 million people with over 1200 shares from the global campaign. The Peru work actually resulted in changing the lives of a small rural community in the jungles of the Amazon thanks to the work of Experian. We’re proud to have played a part in it.
We wanted to position our brand as being a true voice for consumers and be at the heart of what are the real problems faced by everyday people relating to identity. Storythings helped us by providing emotional storytelling from the position of the individual, each unique and otherwise without a voice and provide a platform for their stories to be heard, globally. The results were increased positive brand metrics and in excess of 10m engagements.
Ben Rowley, Head of Global Marketing, Experian