Kicking AIDS Out! A New Approach

By Florence Rousseau:  I was approached by Commonwealth Games Canada at the beginning of March 2013, to see if I would be interested in working with an organization called Kicking AIDS Out! to develop their Marketing and Communication Strategy. Though officially established in 2001, the Kicking AIDS Out! (KAO) concept was first originated in the mid 1990s. The fundamental basis for this concept was to use movement games to help share HIV/AIDS information with the youth of Southern Africa. However, as the concept grew and KAO’s network of countries and partners expanded, the model had now gone well past that of HIV/AIDS education to one of helping the country’s youth develop essential life skills. The objective for my time with KAO (10 days in place and 6 months remotely) was/is to help them establish a new comprehensive marketing and branding strategy that would encompass their new and revised mission statement

Prior to travelling to South Africa to meet with theKAO Secretariat in person we had two preliminary meetings. The first was an introductory conference call, which included Linda Torége of KAO, Aynslee Kyte of Commonwealth Games Canada and myself. During the course of the meeting KAO was asked to forward any documentation that they had to me, which they did. From these meetings it was determined that the initial aim for the sessions in Cape Town was to clearly pinpoint their target audience in regards to sources of funding as well as reaching the country’s youth; defining their competition for both of these audiences. Then developing an effective and cohesive web, social media and marketing strategy. Based on the information gathered at that time, I created an outline that we could follow and flesh out during our sessions. In addition, I made an extensive list of follow up questions.

I arrived in Cape Town, South Africa at 9 pm on Sunday, April 21st and met with the team at 8:30am on Monday the 22nd. It was wonderful to meet them and it was clear from the beginning that they were passionate about what they did and really wanted to take it to the next level. In the first few hours it became evident that the initial direction that we all thought we would be heading in would have to change. Through much back and forth we realized as a group that what KAO’s network had to offer was much more than what was currently being shown to the

world. The following days until I left on April 30th were taken up re-assessing, KAO’s vision and mission statement and redefining the Secretariat’s position in the network. It was wonderful to see that everyone was not only open to this change in direction, but also had to some extent anticipated it, which allowed us to quickly determine a new path and create a revised internal communication and rebranding strategy that would best meet the needs of the entire network.

Being asked by the CGC to be a SportWORKS representative was an honour. SportWORKS’ work placement program of sending topic-specific Canadian experts to developing Commonwealth countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Oceania is wonderful. As the expert it was not only fantastic to be able to donate my knowledge, but in return I really learned about selflessness.

Working with the KAO’s group and getting the opportunity to see what they do first hand really touched me. As KAO and I delved deeper into what the members in the Network do, such as making play areas safer for the youth (from trash to landmine removal) I really started to feel that there is so much more to life. We can be so caught up in our own lives, but when you have an experience like this you realize that there is more that we can do. I feel privileged to have been asked to be a part of this program and to be able to contribute my skills and experience to an organization that is doing so much good in the world.

About Florence Rousseau

Florence Rousseau (Cardinal,ON) is an innovative Marketing professional with a track record of successfully developing and implementing branding strategies for startup and high-growth organizations. She recently worked on re-branding the Foreign Business line for the Royal Canadian Mint. Ms.Rousseau worked with Kicking AIDS Out! in Cape Town South Africa on developing a Branding and Reorganization strategy. In 2012 she established TADAH!, which focuses on Marketing and Branding strategies as well as non-financial retirement solutions.

About SportWORKS

The CGC SportWORKS Initiative is a collection of programs that sends Canadian sport leaders (called Canadian SportWORKS Officers, or “CSOs”) to developing countries from 1 week to 1-year placements designing and delivering sustainable sport programs and building sport system capacity.