Grey and Unicef team up to create a global council for kids
Advertising network Grey is marking its 100th anniversary in part by teaming up with humanitarian organization Unicef to create the Unicef + Grey Global Kids Council for mentorship and marketing initiatives.
Grey and Unicef are creating a global council for kids that will train them in marketing fundamentals.
The Global Kids Council will comprise young people from six countries – the Netherlands, Turkey, the US, Brazil, South Africa and India – who are paired with Grey global offices and trained in the fundamentals of marketing, “offering them knowledge and resources to create meaningful change and rally around causes that relate to their homelands” in preparation for World Children’s Day on November 20.
"As passionate advocates for change, Grey and Unicef will launch the Unicef + Grey Global Kids Council to start global conversations that address key issues affecting children – in a way that provides a rewarding experience for the kids composing the Council,” said Grey’s global president Michael Houston.
Grey also noted the Unicef + Grey Global Kids Council is a nod to the agency’s longtime Global Creative Council – an internal program it says aims “to share, rate, collaborate and assist in the evolution of creative ideas” – and Unicef USA’s Kids Helping Kids initiatives, like Trick-or-Treat for Unicef, which has raised more than $175m since 1950.
In addition, to highlight and support Unicef USA’s work to ensure every child has access to education, Grey will create a back-to-school campaign that will launch in late summer. The campaign will seek to educate and fundraise for Unicef’s programs to put children first. This marketing effort will combine the organization’s channels and resources with Grey’s creative expertise around what Grey called “a key moment for all US families”.
“This partnership speaks to some of the core ideas that Unicef USA has worked to support for more than 70 years – kids helping their peers around the world and empowering the next generation of global citizens – along with shared ideals around creative problem solving and using global reach to support local communities,” said Caryl Stern, president and chief executive of Unicef, in a statement. “This new partnership model allows kids the valuable opportunity to improve their lives and shape their futures - we can't wait to see the results.”
These efforts also carry on what Grey said is a long tradition of pro bono work, with Houston adding Grey’s goal with the new council was to create an umbrella over these initiatives to be highly focused for a greater impact of scale.
“Grey has always been an agency that values diversity of experiences and ideas using our colorful minds for the greater good and we are honored to formalize a partnership with Unicef to continue that tradition,” Houston added in a statement. “Diversity is borderless, and knows no bounds and it’s this philosophy that we hope to instill in these children – empowering them to make an impact on the world as their unique perceptions and perspectives will help to achieve both local and global insights to problems facing youth today and ideas for how to solve them.”