EE campaigns often involve many partners,including donors and audiences. Partners oftencome to projects with their own agendas, and itis up to campaign coordinators to ensure balanceand harmony. To illuminate this dialectic, GarthJaphet (South Africa) and Phyllis Piotrow (USA)presented two cases in this session chaired byMartine Bouman of the Netherlands EEFoundation.

Building a Brand Name

Project Director Japhet explained that Soul Cityis a South African NGO established in 1992 toharness “the power of mass media to supporthealth and development.” Today, theproject reaches more than 70%of the South African popula-tion and is used by 10 otherAfrican nations. Soul Citydoes not focus on one particu-lar social issue, but instead usesthe brand name to raise awareness onvarious topics, including mother and childhealth, HIV/AIDS, smoking, and gender-basedviolence. Messages are conveyed through a week-ly prime time TV drama, a radio drama broad-cast in nine languages, and color pamphletsinserted in 10 newspapers.

Partnerships Key to Success

According to Japhet, partnerships are the key toan EE campaign’s success. Furthermore, he said,partnerships should be based on a win-win situa-tion. Media gatekeepers, key interest groups,donors, and the creative team should together

create possibilities from which they can all profit.We should also not forget “to see the audience asa partner rather than a goal,” said Japhet.

Funding Sources and Networking

Piotrow spoke of the partnerships between thedifferent parties involved in EE. Besides perform-ers and producers, donors are important part-ners, she said. She then turned her attention tofundraising for EE. Sponsoring can be providedby government ministries, as well as by interna-tional organizations such as the United Nations.

Commercial sponsors could be another impor-tant source of funding. EE professionals shouldconcentrate not only on what is needed, but alsoon what can be offered to partners.

Contacts need to be made with variousmedia in order to implement a project. Again, itis important to demonstrate the value of the pro-gram to them. When considering this partner-ship between the entertainment industry andeducators, problems concerning the content ofthe program could arise. A related issue is the

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“Think Big, Start Small, Act Now”Keynote Conversation: “Strategic Partnerships”

“Don’t go aroundwith your cap in your

hand; say what you have tooffer instead of the other way

round. We do not differ from anyother kind of business; we

moved away from askingfavors a long time ago.”

Garth Japhet

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degree of emphasis on entertainment versus edu-cation.

Entertainment Versus EducationalContent

Currently, it is generally agreed that thebalance between entertainment andeducation should be in favor of theentertainment. Some suggest that70% of the content should focuson entertainment and 30% oneducation, while others opt for a60/40 division. But the realpoint is not an arbitrary distinc-tion between the two; they needto be totally merged.

It is not surprising that the divisionof costs and distribution of the product can alsobe a cause of friction. To prevent argumentsbased on credits, acknowledging all participantswill usually avoid friction in this area. Keepingthe donor interested is another important factorin the process, as donor fatigue is a rather com-mon problem.

Most Important Strategic Partners

The discussion then moved to strategic partnersin EE projects. Japhet said that the most strategicpartner for Soul City is a leading South Africannewspaper. This choice was determined by thenewspaper’s credibility and the fact that the edi-tor is influential in media circles.

According to Piotrow, the most valuablepartner for JHU/CCP is the U.S. Agency for

International Development, which is a long-termpartner that has funded many projects.

For the EE project on family planning inJordan, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs has defi-nitely been the most important partner, said LinaQardan (Jordan). Because most Jordanian citi-

zens consult Islamic religious rules formost decisions in their lives, gaining

the support of religious leaders inthat country was crucial for theproject’s success.

Sophia Chaudhury(Bangladesh) shared her views onthe importance of commercial

partners. In their project, a com-mercial partner smoothed relations

between educators and writers, whoboth had their predetermined views about

the project. Participants agreed with her observa-tion that, in general, a relationship with theaudience is most valuable for any EE campaign.

Finding Balance

Finally, participants agreed that EE involvesmany parties and many partnerships, any ofwhich could cause friction because of conflictingagendas. But as in any partnership, EE involvesgive and take. EE professionals find themselvesstruggling to find balance, trying to satisfy theneeds of all parties.

Piotrow concluded the session with anencouraging call: “Think big, start small, actnow. Give everybody credit. Never wait to beinvited, just go!”

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“Think big, start small,act now. Give

everybody credit.Never wait to beinvited, just go!”

Phyllis Piotrow

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