In three short weeks, the 2013 Fourth Estate Summit will be taking place. The Summit will also be playing host to the Common Good Exchange, a feature of over 50 organizations and brands. The Common Good Exchange will give participants of the Summit the opportunity to build connections with top organizations and brands at the forefront of social change.
One of those 50 organizations is Digitaria, a digital agency owned by WPP and aligned with JWT. I had the opportunity to ask Chuck Philips, CTO of Digitaria, some questions about Digitaria and their heart for Invisible Children.
The Digitaria team has tea with the ladies from Mend.
Tell us a bit about your company. Feel free to also include your favorite clients (hint hint) – on that note, how long have you worked with IC?
Digitaria is a marketing, technology and data company, part of the famous JWT network of ad agencies and owned by the marketing services holding company WPP. We work with Qualcomm, NBC/Universal, Lincoln Motor Company, Rolex, the NFL and several of its franchises, and of course we have a special spot in our heart for Invisible Children. We started working with Invisible Children in the mid-2000‘s. Until the LRA Crisis Tracker, my favorite campaign Digitaria worked on with Invisible Children was the 2006-07 Schools for Schools work. I loved how we were able to inspire American kids to do something for people outside their circle of influence. We wrote software and developed a campaign to make that happen. The Crisis Tracker was extremely exciting because we used technology to protect people and reduce the number of lives impacted negatively by the LRA. It’s an honor to work with Invisible Children — we do our best to make ourselves essential to this cause because we believe in it so much.
We live in a digital world. What have you come to find about how brands communicate their missions in this digital age?
Brands need to harness content, community and collaboration. When brands combine relevant or interesting content with the right channel and is touted by key influencers, there is a much higher likelihood of success. Also, the proper use of social media is critical: You need to talk to the right people in the right places and send them the right message, so they’re engaged and buy-in.
Why is taking part in Fourth Estate Summit important to you?
Everything Invisible Children does is something we want to be a part of. Beyond that, 2013 Fourth Estate Summit brings together so many smart and engaged people that you really don’t know what’s going to come out of it, so you want to be there when it does. Invisible Children has proven they can make history; we want to be there when they do it again.
What’s the biggest thing your organization is hoping to learn or take away from the Fourth Estate Summit?
We’d like to learn from the friends of Invisible Children and make connections to others who are passionate about the cause. We like working with good people, and expect to meet new ones at the Fourth Estate Summit.
You can find out more about the 2013 Fourth Estate Leadership Summit via the links below.
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