Invisible Inequality

  • Marta Gonzalez Castello

THE CHALLENGE: Fundación Adsis is a non-profit organization that works for teenagers in risk of social exclusion in Spain. Despite its extensive experience, it is not very well known. Still, its competitive advantage is that it is the only foundation in Spain currently in its sector; most other organizations focus either on children or adults (under 12 and over 18). Our challenge was to generate awareness for Fundación Adsis and position the brand as the leading expert in helping teenagers in risk of social exclusion. THE APPROACH & METHODS: In order to develop Fundación Adsis’ positioning around its expertise in the field and achieve higher levels of awareness, we proposed the following solution. We conducted a study to better understand attitudes & habits of teenagers in Spain, with a special focus on those in social exclusion. The goal of the study was to find relevant data that could be newsworthy in order to start a relevant conversation on media that boosted awareness on both the subject and Fundación Adsis. The study was based on qualitative & quantitative research. First, we did 8 interviews to Fundación Adsis volunteers, educators and users (teenagers). We asked the latter to fill a visual diary in order to find deeper insights about their desires, fears, and goals in life. Why was it surprising? All in all, we learned more from the visual diaries than the interviews. Because some of the teenagers faced situations that were difficult to speak about, writing provided an alternative outlet. Secondly, we conducted a traditional paper survey in high schools around Spain using the learnings from the interviews & visual diaries -around 3,000 Spanish students participated. KEY LEARNINGS: The main learnings of the research were that (1) teenagers in risk of social exclusion lack opportunities, motivation, self-steem & self-perceived wellbeing and (2) the risk of social exclusion seems to be something nobody notices on a person at a first glimpse. Apart from that, the results of the study were frightening: 21% of teenagers in Spain were in risk of social exclusion in 2015, which means that in a regular class of 30 students, 6 of them were in risk of social exclusion. Taking this data as inspiration, we developed the concept “invisible inequality” to launch the study. IMPACT: The launch of the study was very successful: Fundación Adsis was mentioned in +200 media and the donations increased +15%. The link of the study: https://www.fundacionadsis.org/desigualdadinvisible/estudio- completo-es-2015_5828.pdf

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