IAPI
Giving insight a bigger platform
Over a three year period we helped The Irish Advertising Practitioners Institute (IAPI) share the results of their annual industry census in more far-reaching and relevant ways. Beginning in 2015, we produced a traditional printed report that delivered census data, trends and insights in the form of engaging infographics and stories — something that was sent to all IAPI member. In 2016 we migrated the printed report into a web platform that brought the data and content to life as infographics and animations — something that could be added to year-on-year and seen by a wider audience (not to mention being more cost effective and better for environment). In 2017 we again added to things by commencing a content programme that uses recent graduates to animate the census data — something that ties into IAPI’s remit of supporting young talent, and something that puts IAPI in front of new audiences. From one traditional touchpoint, we found ways to help our client deliver on their remit in new and broader, long term ways.
The idea at the heart of the IAPI census is to find the human interest in the data and to translate it into stories that connect with those working in Irish advertising and beyond.
A simple website combines the animated stories and responsive data that grows year on year – census.iapi.ie
The stories are designed to travel beyond the website. Packaged as video and social assets they can be used in presentations, in third party websites and across social media.
The Big Picture
We live in the age of big data — a term used to describe the capturing, processing, storing and visualisation of data on a mass scale. Complex information that is used by governments, corporations and organisations to enhance decision making, provide insight and improve processes. Although most of this data is today tracked automatically on our digital devices, the humble census still plays an important role in capturing the right kind of people-orientated data. Tasked with giving the Irish marketing and communications sector a voice, The Irish Advertising Practitioners Institute (IAPI) conduct an industry census once a year among their advertising, creative, digital and media member agencies. In 2015 we began working with IAPI with the primary goal of communicating to the creative industries the yearly ebbs, flows, trends and movements of their industry, in a suitably creative and engaging way.
Thinking big, planning ahead
Knowing IAPI’s census is undertaken yearly we proposed taking a long term view of things. Over a three year period we migrated the census from being a purely printed report with accompanying infographics, to becoming a stand alone website with shareable stories and graphs. In addition to creating a sense of continuity and interaction between each year’s data, this approach also helped IAPI deliver on their remit in a broader, long term way (not to mention being a more cost effective investment).
Stories and Atoms
The American poet Muriel Rukeyser once said ‘The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms.’ Without disagreeing too much, we believe it’s made out of both. Some people are numbers people, some are stories people. Our approach to the census website echoed this. Every year, working from member responses, we updated the website with detailed numbers and figures based infographics that give visitors a year-on-year view of things. Something that greatly helps member agencies understand wider industry trends and plan for the future. Then to bring important census headlines and insights to life, we also created a series of animated illustrations that translate the data into human and accessible stories — perfect for those seeking the main outtakes.
Championing young talent
One of IAPI’s core remits is investing in, and developing, young Irish talent. For this reason in 2017 we began a programme of commissioning recent graduates to create the annual animated census stories. In addition to bringing the website to life, these stories are shared across IAPI’s social media channels helping to spark conversation and drive traffic back to the main website.