Here at Mutant, we all have superpowers — be it PR, content, branding or design. And if you’re familiar with superhero movies, you’ll know that superheroes are the strongest when they join forces to use their powers for good.
With Mutant for Good (MFG), our first ever CSR initiative, we’re doing exactly that. MFG’s first campaign is titled ‘Peering into our Future’, and all the Mutants involved are all driven by one common purpose – to make ocean conservation personal enough for people to care.
By bringing together some of Singapore’s most talented writers to craft dystopian futures, we hope to inspire and remind people to protect our oceans. Through the added elements of experiential storytelling and events, we hope to replicate what is happening to our oceans here on land and inspire a personal connection to these happenings. And finally, by harnessing the power of PR and storytelling, we aim to amplify this important message to as many people as we can and get them involved.
While we drive many integrated campaigns on a day-to-day basis, Mutant for Good provides a rare opportunity for all Mutants to showcase their cross-functional team capabilities and work closely together for an aligned cause.
How do we do it? Allow me to shine a spotlight on the amazing teams that are championing this epic campaign.
Building an eye-catching brand from scratch
For our first CSR initiative, we built a whole new brand from scratch. This meant creating an entirely new identity for ‘Peering Into Our Future’ that resonates with a wider audience. Under the magic touch of our senior designer, Jeremy Yap, our branding team has created a series of digital and print visual assets, including brand logos, posters and a stunning webpage.
Importantly, the branding team conceptualised and directed a campaign trailer that reflects the eerie, mysterious, and yet slightly hopeful tone of the brand.
“I want to see how people would respond to the various touch points of our project,” Jeremy says. “Will they be so deeply moved that they start to make sustainable lifelong changes for the sake of our future? I’m looking forward to that.”
Creating first-class content
We believe in the power of words, and wanted our campaign to leverage heavily on storytelling.
Mutant has always prided itself on a strong content team that comprises former editors and publishers. Formerly from a publishing background in New York, Bethany Bloch, Mutant’s senior editor, collaborated with five local writers on short stories about ocean conservation. She’s done a phenomenal job, working with each writer to develop their initial ideas into data-backed stories that are bound to send chills down your spine.
“Being able to work with authors directly again and edit fiction has been really fun for me!” Bethany shares. “The fact that this whole project is based on creating more awareness for ocean conservation brings an extra layer of excitement — it’s always nice to know that what you’re doing truly means something and will have a positive impact.”
Besides the short stories, Bethany’s leading the project’s content efforts, including developing a website, blogs and thought leadership articles.
Putting ourselves out there with solid PR
With more than a decade in PR, we obviously pulled out all the stops! Senior consultant Shannen Tan and team have been quietly working in the background to bring this project to life in the best, most meaningful way possible.
Beyond traditional media pitches, Shannen is working on amplifying the impact of the project through key partnerships with local organisations that we’re thrilled to work with. “I hope that the stories compel readers to not just reflect on the world beneath the waters, but also embolden them towards demanding change in their own communities,” she explains.
Influencing on social
It’s not a 2022 project if we’re missing a social media presence. Senior Manager Abraham Christopher, who has a depth of experience in consumer communications and social media, leads the social media team’s content and influencer management, making sure that we tap on the right advocates to amplify our message.
As part of the social strategy, Mutant will be carefully curating posts on Peering Into Our Future’s social media pages and collaborating with key opinion leaders to create awareness and drive action.
Delivering exciting events
On the events side, we have two major events lined up: an exhibition at the ArtScience Museum, as well as a Singapore Pavilion representative at the upcoming UN Climate Change conference in Egypt. These events are opportunities for us to share meaningful messages and highlight ocean conservation needs with our network.
A huge shoutout to our Manager Jaclyn Phan, who juggled multiple moving pieces to make this happen! On her role in Peering Into Our Future, Jaclyn says: “Being able to work with Coastal Natives on an exhibition for the ArtScience Museum is really cool. I hope more people will be aware of the terrible things happening to our ocean, and will hop on board to protect it.”
As you can tell, we’ve had our hands full in the last couple of months, and I’m beyond excited to see it all come to life this September.
To learn about Mutant for Good and stay updated with our efforts, please watch this space for more, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.