Uniting Southeast Asia with a Shared Purpose

A DUTY  TO PROTECT THE BOUNTY OF A PEOPLE AND THE LANDS THEY LOVE

Southeast Asia is an economic miracle that has transformed the region and millions of lives over the past fifty years. In recognising this success, ASEAN and The World Bank also recognised how much there was to lose. Over the past 30 years, natural disasters have affected more than 400 million lives in the region. 

The Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Insurance Facility (SEADRIF) was created to provide financial solutions and technical advice in response to natural disasters. Its success depended on support from the people, public service, and governments of Southeast Asia.

BELIEVING IN THE CAUSE CAN SIMPLIFY A COMPLEX MESSAGE

When Benedikt Singer, Team Leader at Global Risk Financing, brought this project to us, we immediately recognised its social impact, and felt committed to its success. We were also very aware of the difficulties involved in delivering a message across different cultures that would resonate with the public and all the way through to ministers in government.

A CLEAN SLATE

This initiative gave us the opportunity to build a brand from the ground up. We would be developing everything that was required to establish SEADRIF as the trusted financial solutions provider to ASEAN governments. These assets included the logo and visual identity, brand narrative, awareness video, brochure, and website.

THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY

We approached this project knowing that the visual elements would be fundamental to communicating the value of SEADRIF to a diverse audience. These elements had to be combined in a logo that symbolised SEADRIF’s purpose while reflecting the identity of the people it serves. The SEADRIF team worked closely with us as we peeled back the layers of motivation, assumptions, culture, and symbolism. 

We looked at what SEADRIF could achieve through the lens of government ministers, public servants, and the wider population. Chrissy, creative director at PaperplaneCo put it like this, “I find these workshops immensely helpful because we learn what is important to the client. There is always something that they say, an idea or phrase that animates them that in turn sparks my imagination. It’s always very obvious to me when someone is expressing something they believe.”

A great deal of time and effort goes into the discovery process, because when done well, it reveals the true value proposition of a campaign. For SEADRIF it was clear that they could not stop disasters, but they could prevent disasters from becoming a crisis. And from this seed of truth everything grew naturally, and rapidly.

EXPRESSING IDENTITY THROUGH SYMBOLISM

While three logo designs were presented, one of them expressed with simplicity the many aspects that SEADRIF was built on. The Virtuous Circle logo represents the cycle of sustainability. It’s protective circular form starts as a solid, representing regional collaboration, with the rotation offering shelter. As it progresses, rice stalks form to represent security and an affinity with ASEAN. Then to express the purpose of sharing with those in need, the stalks spread open with seed.

The children of truth are beauty and simplicity, and we were not surprised when The World Bank and ASEAN recognised the values that this logo communicated about SEADRIF so effortlessly. From there, we quickly agreed on the colour palette beginning with a yellow for ASEAN progressing to an abundant green harvest.

WHEN FOUNDATIONS ARE STRONG, GROWTH FLOWS EASILY

Having a powerful visual identity, and knowing our value proposition supported the purpose of SEADRIF, the development of the campaign then flowed organically. By keeping all three target audiences in mind we simplified ideas like complex financial instruments with messaging based on “home insurance for your country”. Focusing on the beauty and value of what would be protected, helped us keep the tone light and positive. Using each medium’s strengths, we infused them with the meanings they needed so that each worked as a stepping stone. This path led our whole audience emotionally, and thoughtfully to an appreciation of how SEADRIF was there for their future.

CARE DEEPLY AND IT WILL BECOME A PART OF YOU

We’d invested a lot of ourselves in the project by the time we’d pulled the whole campaign package together. It included website design and content, a brochure, an  awareness video, and the brand narrative all integrated with the logo’s visual identity. The SEADRIF team had continued to work closely with us and were very supportive through the whole process.

The rewarding experience, and the importance of this work, had drawn us close together. We knew we’d captured the heart as well as the message of SEADRIF, and were gratified by the compliments and appreciation we were shown for this work.