Animating Big Ideas for Purchasing with Purpose
The EU has legal frameworks that require organizations receiving public funds to allocate a percentage of their income to purchasing goods and services from companies that reinvest their profits in environmental causes. Rebecca Dray, originally from the UK, wondered why this model didn’t exist in America. Recognizing that Americans’ purchasing spend is huge (in the trillions), she created Purchasing With Purpose to enable us all to shift our purchasing to align with our values. PWP unlocks social and environmental solutions outside of for-profit and grant-dependent nonprofit structures. And they have a chapter right here in Portland!
The Challenge
Purchasing with Purpose was invited to this year’s Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. They needed a 2 minute text-based animation to explain their novel concept at the conference.
The challenge was distilling PWP’s nuanced work into 2 minutes for an audience with no prior familiarity. Since the animation would be text-based, we had to be mindful of how much text the audience could read on screen before becoming fatigued. We wanted to convey everything important to PWP without causing information overload.
We needed to educate, but we also wanted to get people excited! PWP is offering solutions that everyone can be a part of. Amid the overwhelming crises in the world, this was a moment to inspire people that they can make a positive change simply by doing what they’re already doing—buying stuff!
So this was the juggling act — have enough information to educate, while being restricted to how much text can be read on screen — and within this juggling act, inspire people to join the movement.
Our Solution
We wrote a script that started with a hook, transitioned into the what, how, and why, and ended with a call to action. We timed the script and modified, using PWP’s goals to prioritize what needed to stay in. Even though this was an animation of words, show-don't-tell is always a good mantra! We identified sections where graphics could replace words, and creative methods, such as word clouds, for areas where PWP needed complete lists. We used imagery from the wealth of PWP’s institutional partners that showed positive change in motion, keeping the focus on inspiration. Movement was infused into the words and images to create an upbeat pacing and lively energy.
The Results
Purchasing with Purpose brings together People and Planet First verified enterprises and networks to unlock social and environmental solutions. Creating this animation required unlocking creative solutions to educate and inspire. The screening of the video at the Clinton Global Initiative got a lot of influential eyes on PWP’s mission.
Imagine the power of a supply chain that rewards business models that put people and the planet first. PWP is empowering us all to participate in this shift, and we hope this animation does the same!
