Helping Money Make Money in Bulambuli, Uganda

Facing diminishing donations in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, international NGO Communities for Development (C4D) urgently needed a critical boost to their work in Bulambuli, Uganda. Acting pro-bono, our media awareness campaign spiked interest in the NGO’s mission to create new local businesses, support existing organisations in the region, and provide financial education and advice to the wider community.

Cutting through the noise

To challenge the idea that entrepreneurs can only be found in global financial hubs, we had to cut through the prevailing wall-to-wall pandemic coverage in the UK. We knew our campaign would only succeed if we managed to secure a couple of truly top-tier media titles. So we embraced a content-led approach, knowing that an original and eye-catching video would land us the high-profile coverage, which would then be amplified on social media.

Money makes money

In partnership with local hip-hop artists, villagers and the ‘Ugandan Tarantino’, we created a brash and ballsy parody rap video. The audio-visual feast emphatically conveys C4D’s message that, really, it’s only money that makes money in this supposedly globalised world. By presenting the people of Bulambuli with their ‘wealth’, tongues firmly in cheeks as they show off their fake bling and helicopter made of cardboard, we made a case for their entrepreneurialism to receive global investment. We gave our campaign exclusively to BBC World Service and The Guardian to cover and created tailored video edits to encourage influencers to share our assets.