Accelerating Access to Educational Animation with SAWBO

We are living in the Information Age where technological advances have had a significant impact on how information is shared and discovered. With the digitization of information, learning a new skill, improving our current methods of doing something and answering previously unanswerable questions has never been easier. But on the flip side, as a consumer – finding reputable sources has never been harder, and as a source – reaching an interested audience is becoming increasingly more difficult.

We at Emerging have been fortunate to work with Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO) to help them do just that – reach the audiences that would benefit most from their content.

SAWBO is a science-based civic education program that works to create accessible videos in a diverse set of languages. Since 2020, we have assisted them in developing strategies to promote educational videos to necessary audiences.

Our first engagement was for an animation that outlined simple methods to protect yourself against COVID-19. This video was made available in over 55 languages. We were able to increase their video views by reaching over 10.4 million viewers on YouTube. This campaign served as a basis for testing advertising methods and platforms that worked well with the content of their videos and their target audiences.

In continuation of our work, we developed a broader communications plan for SAWBO to increase their project’s reach online, as well as an acceleration plan to promote video animations following their release. At the time, SAWBO was producing many videos centered around agricultural topics, such as improved jerrycan bean storage or reduced postharvest loss. Sharing improved farming practices can have a positive impact on livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Learning the best methods of targeting was key for these campaigns, as they focused on reaching select audiences in regions defined by use of language. Most material developed online is for broad audiences and produced in more popular languages. A young farmer in Nepal may not benefit from a video produced in English, however making the same video available in Nepali or Bajika may be exactly what they need to improve their crop yield. We are grateful to work with SAWBO to help them reach these audiences.

The success of all campaigns has resulted in further promotional collaborations, accelerating the reach of additional educational videos to audiences in Niger and Rwanda through 2023. Emerging is pleased to continue working with the SAWBO team to assist in the promotion of videos and programs using diverse advertising strategies.

Visit their website for information on their program or to explore the full video library. Follow SAWBO on Facebook for more project updates and video releases.