The WARC Podcast
Behind the winning work: WARC Rankings Effective 100
Apr 1, 2025
Socrates Papazoglou, Executive Vice President at McCann New York, shares insights into the award-winning campaign 'ADLaM: An alphabet to preserve a culture' for Microsoft. The discussion highlights how this initiative empowers Fulani communities by providing a written language, enhancing literacy, and preserving cultural identity. He emphasizes the pivotal role of community collaboration in the creative process, illustrating how feedback refines ideas. The podcast also touches on the integration of the Adlam typeface into Microsoft products, driving accessibility and representation.
21:25
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Quick takeaways
- The Adlam initiative by Microsoft and McCann NYC revitalizes the language of the Fulani people, empowering over 60 million individuals through improved communication and cultural preservation.
- The project's success relied on close collaboration with the Fulani community, ensuring the Adlam typeface embodied their heritage and fostered trust and ownership among its users.
Deep dives
Empowering a Language through Technology
Microsoft's initiative aimed to digitize the oral language of the Fulani people, affecting over 60 million individuals in West Africa. The project addressed the significant challenge of these individuals lacking a written language, which hindered their ability to communicate effectively in a digital world. By creating an alphabet called Adlam, the brothers noted how essential communication is for identity, education, and basic rights, as writing in their language allowed for personal expression and cultural preservation. This work not only revived a struggling language but also opened opportunities for education and modernization in various sectors.
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