Campaign: The Digital Divide
Client: Digital Links
WPP company: The Partners UK
In developed countries, consumers and businesses frequently upgrade their computers creating millions of tonnes of electronic waste. In the UK alone, more than three million PCs are disposed of each year, many of them still fully functioning. By sharp contrast, 95% of people in Africa do not have access to IT, and only 2% of African students have ever used a computer.
Digital Links is helping to tackle this waste mountain, while enabling thousands of Africans to get online. The charity collects unwanted PCs, refurbishes them and gives them a new life in schools and small business throughout Africa and the developing world.
In 2009, The Partners worked pro bono to create a new logo, identity and marketing campaign for Digital Links. The online and print campaign, worth £9,000, used bold images to communicate both sides of the ‘digital divide’: the negative aspect of excessive waste, and the positive opportunity for impoverished communities to benefit from technology.
It is estimated that over 1.5 million people have benefited from IT for the first time through Digital Links.
