Amy Kilty's TIE Case Study - Wieden+Kennedy London and The Kasiisi Project

+ Me 13.04.19

It’s pretty hard to distil this, so I’ve gone right back to the beginning

Why I applied...

Maternity leave was great‌ What a privilege to be able to take time out - and whilst there’s a lot of nipple cream and elastic waistbands - there’s a LOT of time to think about what I really want and what I want the world to be like for these guys.

I wanted to go back to work excited. For it not to be a thing Mummy just has to do, but wants to do and that makes a difference. That changes the conversation about working parenthood. What better opportunity to do that, than TIE.

+ I needed a challenge‌ I was at a point in my worklife were everything felt ok. Like I actually knew what I was doing (which is clearly the beginning of the end) and so I wanted to push myself

+ all the appraisal stuff‌ My time at W+K had ebbed and flowed with each pregnancy and maternity leave, but the feedback I’d had always been consistent: Trust my instinct, speak up more, be my own hype man. So what better way than to put my hand up for something like this...

(None of which is the stuff that comes naturally to an only child, FYI)

+ set an example.

To my kids. Even if they don’t remember the moment of it, I want them to be adventurous and know they can do whatever they put their mind to.

To Wiedens, that the conversation about me coming back wouldn’t just be about work/life balance.

To myself - never done anything like that on my own before.

I do actually believe what we do can make a difference in the real world

(Obvs I put in more reasons in my application but for the sake of now, that’ll do)

Why I picked my NGO...

I wanted to work to benefit kids

I wanted to work to benefit kids

+

I’d never been to Africa

I wanted to work to benefit kids

+

I’d never been to Africa

+

I’m an account man

And what that was actually to do was market this: a guesthouse, in a school playing field, in the middle of nowhere. And sell the vision...

And make this a real source of income for the organisation

So, what happened?

I made 35 of these, each one with a reason why I love my kids. One for everyday that I was away, so they could see when I was nearly home.

Picture of origami

Picture of driver

I flew 6 thousand miles. Then sat in a car with Mr. Francis for 6 hours whilst he drove me Kasiisi. Across all the different roads (SO MANY STORIES ABOUT ROADS).

And had my first taste of Ugandan food and settled in for an early night.

And then started my first day with this; breakfast, malaria tablets and a note from the field director

First Learning...

It’s going to be complicated I’d had all the training TIE provides: I’m not a white saviour, I should just be open to everything and come with humanity, but I didn’t think this would be so guilt inducing from the off

Gorret Conservation Education Assistant & Guesthouse shopper/greeter

Emily KFSP Director

Shamil Farm Manager

So I got ready and went to my first Monday team meeting and asked to be thrown in the deep end

Whilst I didn’t have a working phone or internet connection, I got stuck into all the data I could find starting with the guest surveys

And their existing marketing materials

And what the team actually does (like shopping) to get ready for a guest (me)

At the market

Before staying at the guesthouse and eating all the food we bought, and having a hot shower!

And asking the director and founder a tonne of questions

As well as the girls who were in the middle of a year placement there too

Second Learning...

The organisation is massively dysfunctional No-one is actually in charge of the guesthouse, or wants to be. No-one has any hospitality background. They sell themselves on things they don’t do well (activities) and undersell the things they do (like service) AND AT A BIGGER LEVEL, They’re all happy to accept the grants that Elizabeth organises and are focussing on delivery of the asks - working across the border with Congolese children to promote reverence for the mountain gorilla, or arranging parent child relationship workshops, or the annual scholars meeting etc etc

So I got basic* and pulled together some recommendations - for the business as well as the comms *By basic, I mean ppt. The internet was still not a thing at this point.

And finished the first week at the annual scholars meeting...

WHERE I SAW KIDS BEING DISCIPLINED IN A WAY I’D NEVER SEEN BEFORE

So I rang Elizabeth To ask if this was normal for the organisation. Some of the discipling was so brutal - and not just the physical.

Telling parents they were going to ask for all the scholarship money back and watching parents get down on their knees to beg to keep it as they literally have no money. To let her know we were shocked - especially the other volunteers. And though we didn’t want to appear judgemental (we didn’t leave the meeting) it was problematic for us that the organisation was participating in things that they’re also working to challenge

Third Learning...

Charities are not sanctuaries of goodness The expectation was very quickly broken that I would simply be doing something good. Life is more complicated than that.

Fourth Learning...

Shame can be a tool Which was used on me the next Monday at the team meeting, when I was called out in front of everyone “Apparently some of the volunteers were offended by what they saw on Friday. They should leave Ugandan business to Ugandans. Next time we won’t invite them” OK, COOL

Fifth Learning...

Resilience is social I needed the other girls. We talked about it, questioned it together, asked ourselves if we can all carry on, or try to make it better.

So we tried to have a nice weekend, and distract ourselves (which in and of itself is quite odd)

Did I do the right thing?

Should I have walked out?

Should I have refused to do any more work flown home?

When ethics and behaviours are fundamentally different to your own and can’t be reconciled, then what?

I still believe flagging it up was the right thing. But also, sort of the only thing I could do - as this was a deeper cultural conflict. I wasn’t in a position to change that reality immediately - but what I was there to do was contribute in the way that I can, in a way that was of benefit to people and start a ball rolling

That was probably my lowest ebb, where I was conscious of just how far from home I was.

But I carried on and presented what I’d originally intended to with Elizabeth and got going

Which boiled down to this summary slide

And updating their materials.

All the while continuing the conversation about internationally expected codes of conduct.

And of course spending some time doing the tourist stuff too (like watching a chimpanzee have a nap)

As well as getting my hands dirty reaching out to make contact with other Ugandan tour operators

Sixth Learning...

If in doubt, stay busy There’s comfort in doing things

Whilst I’d told them not to market the campsite yet there was some fun to be had in the branding of their honey...

So I did that too! Because we’d developed such a distinctive look and feel it was easy to take that and run..

.

But I didn’t want to just leave them with stuff

I agreed that all the money I’d raised back home should be used as a salary for a hospitality & marketing manager, for at least 6 months

So I wrote a job spec and started scouting for the right person, as well as planning what should happen next for the guesthouse and potential next TIE placement

Seventh Learning...

Always try to leave something better than you found it. (Even if it’s not perfect) There’s the practical but also the bigger piece - I started a conversation about children’s human rights vs cultural norms (which is a live issue across the world) and I know they’re know working to change things...

So, did I get what I wanted from it all?

Well, I was hugely conflicted. ALL THE TIME

Like watching children make bricks whilst I get my own ones restored at home...

Seeing cool stuff, but missing out on some real life bits too

Knowing this isn’t my life as I can opt out any time

‌ I was Challenged Just maybe not in the way I was expecting.

It was really fun to do a whole business audit, repositioning, branding, and building relationships. I’d talked about wanting to step outside of the agency structure - but I really missed having a team (and essentially created a proxy one with whoever I could)

I had to trust my instincts and act on my gut Easy about the work and what they should be doing.

Harder about managing perceptions of cultural naivete.

I hope I set an example Dunno. My daughter told me she wanted to go on an adventure with me next time. So, I’m taking that as a win.

To Wiedens, I dunno, you tell me.

To myself - absolutely. I can do more than I expected - and arguably could have done even more with the internet!

Would I do it again?

YES! (it’s a fucking cool experience)

Living in a different culture Seeing another side of the world is cool and not something I could have done as a tourist

Working in a different way Like literally having to move all the furniture out of the office when the internet arrives and working on the floor of the guesthouse instead

Being an expert Even without the internet. Unlike clients, there’s no immediate push back. They know more about their organisation than you do - BUT you know way more about how to communicate that than they do. They’re not marketeers, so you have to rethink how you talk and what journey you take them on

Doing something tangible A month isn’t a long time - but you can get a lot of stuff done. And see it and feel the impact you’re making

And, what now?

Our Mission

To create strong and provocative relationships between good companies and their customers.

We know what we mean by strong and provocative. But what about ‘good’?

W+K LONDON + BUDWEISER BREWING GROUP UK & I

What could ‘good’ mean for us and our clients? ➔ Should we have an ethical policy they have to adhere to? ➔ Could we set up a workstream dedicated to proactively affecting culture? ➔ Should we have extra volunteer days to give our expertise, not just our time?

Questions?

BIG THANKS W+K & TIE