What was u.comms tasked with?
To provide comprehensive communications support for an educational campaign promoting family-based care for children, carried out for Social Synergy, an NGO, with the support of the Ministry of Social Policy and the Social Protection Fund for Persons with Disabilities. The campaign focused on the reform of institutional childcare (deinstitutionalization) and preventing the institutionalization of children with disabilities and/or special educational needs.
Key objectives
- Secure 13 TV news reports and 13 online articles across 13 regions of Ukraine within three months.
- Find real-life stories of children with special educational needs who receive social services and are educated outside specialized institutions.
- Create a series of graphic illustrations explaining available social services for media outreach and social media.
- Secure organic, non-paid coverage in regional media while ensuring that each publication retained a mention of the project.
How did we find the stories and work with the media?
To identify suitable stories, the u.comms team established connections with NGOs, experts and social welfare departments across different regions. After collecting potential stories, the team contacted families directly, prepared written materials or pitched story ideas to journalists for them to develop independently.
The campaign coincided with another major wave of COVID-19: schools were closing for quarantine, interviewees were falling ill and filming had to be postponed. Despite these challenges – and some editorial teams’ reluctance to include non-commercial mentions – the team produced additional materials and successfully met all project KPIs.
Challenges Along the Way
What results did the communications campaign deliver?
The u.comms team delivered the full project plan on schedule without spending any budget on media placements, bringing socially important topics to audiences through regional media.
26 media placements
across 13 regions of Ukraine, including 13 TV reports and 13 articles/live broadcasts.
100% organic coverage
not a single hryvnia of the client’s budget was spent on media placements, thanks to the social relevance and public importance of the topics.
13 regions
engaged in covering the deinstitutionalization reform and the development of community-based social services.
