top of page
Wazzii
by Girl Effect
Visual identity + Campaign
In Kenya, cultural barriers make it nearly impossible for girls to talk openly about sexual health and access the information and services they need.
So, together with international non-profit Girl Effect, we asked young people in Kenya to help us create a chatbot with all the knowledge of a professional health service, but none of the shame. It had to be cool, relatable, and welcoming in every way.
In two months we created award-winning Wazzii, a branded health service and campaign that reflect vibrancy and diversity of Kenyan youth. I created the visual identity, testing it with our youth groups every step of the way.
The brand’s pilot phase reached 5 million young people and resulted in 50,000 chatbot users in just its first 3 months.
Year
Collaborators
2023
Creative team: Anya Parakh, Zoe Dawson, Joel Harvey
Strategy team: Leila Hashemi, Sachi Gamage
PM: Rochelle Shanthankumar
Wazzii won the agency's first ever award, with multiple Golds bagged internationally.
Our biggest creative challenge was how to turn a sexual health chatbot into something adolescents would want to engage with.
So we went straight to the source and asked young Kenyans what they needed and what they were looking for. They told us that the chatbot needed to feel safe but most importantly, it needed to look COOL.
The end result was a brand that reflected their personality, looked nothing like a health services brand, and was named ‘Wazzii’ – an intentional misspelling of Swahili slang, described to us as something like using ‘yaaaaaaassss’ instead of ‘yes.’
To launch Wazzii, Girl Effect took to the streets. Well, to the universities of Nairobi and Migori. The Wazzii tour had youth-focused activations including a makeover station with Wazzii merch, a hula hoop competition, even a nail art station. All of it came in a custom decal Wazzii van.
Illustration was a big part of the visual identity representing the diversity of Kenyan youth – from skin tones to fashion styles. The young people in our co-creation sessions were consulted during our process and one essential point of feedback was to draw cooler shoes!
The Wazzii microsite is a landing page that links to the chatbot but is also constantly updated with informative resources on sexual health. A Wazzii podcast hosted by young Kenyan girls is also available to stream, becoming a digital space to talk openly about sexual health and relationships.
bottom of page