ECDA Campaign Honours the Life-Changing Work of Early Childhood Educators

09/11/2018

Ogilvy Asia Pacific

Advertising Agency

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

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09/11/2018

Ogilvy Singapore's campaign aids the country's government's efforts to attract potential early childhood educators and meet increasing demand

In support of the Early Childhood Development Agency’s (ECDA) efforts to transform and grow the early childhood sector in Singapore, Ogilvy Singapore was appointed by ECDA in May 2018 to develop its first national campaign, “Shape Our Tomorrow”.

Ogilvy Singapore is the lead agency for the integrated campaign with various partner agencies including Geometry, Kantar Public and MediaCom.

The campaign aims to recruit, recognise and retain early childhood educators by highlighting the invaluable role they play in the development and nurturing of a child.

An early childhood educator builds the foundation for learning in each child, and imparts life skills and values that will stay with children throughout their life, shaping their “tomorrow”.

The integrated campaign includes efforts across earned influence through pitched stories, above the line advertising and digital platforms. The film and key visuals show how a seemingly insignificant moment can impact a child for a lifetime, a strategic approach that aims to challenge misconceptions that preschool teachers merely provide babysitting services or are ‘just playing’ with kids all day. Feedback from operators and early childhood educators have been positive.

Chong Ee Rong, Group Managing Director, Ogilvy Singapore said, “Early childhood educators are a special group of educators because they lay the first brick of learning in the life of a child. The intent behind the campaign is to elevate the perception of early childhood educators, dispelling misconceptions about the profession and emphasising the passion and professionalism of each educator. We’re thrilled to be working with ECDA to appreciate the tireless efforts of our early childhood educators, whose daily efforts mould and shape little minds.”

Pauline Mo, Director, Partnerships and Programmes, Early Childhood Development Agency said, “As one of the first teachers in a child's life, early childhood educators play an important role in giving our children a good start in life. ‘Shape Our Tomorrow’ is part of our continued efforts to uplift the early childhood profession, and build greater respect and recognition for our early childhood educators.”

In 2016, ECDA announced the Teachers' Day initiative, to strongly encourage and support all centres to provide all early childhood educators with a day off for Teachers' Day. In celebration of Teachers’ Day this year, ECDA and Ogilvy conducted a social experiment to show what it takes to teach young children. Four professionals – a sports presenter, tech company CEO, radio broadcaster and a chef – tried their hands at being an early childhood educator for 30 minutes, and learnt that early childhood educators truly are an extraordinary league of teachers! The social experiment exceeded half a million video views with 60,000 engagements and 12,300 shares on Facebook, with many parents tagging their child's preschool teacher in appreciation.