The Ones Who...
We developed, produced & distributed The Ones Who Keep Walking – a feature-length documentary celebrating those leading the creative renaissance across Africa.
Johnnie Walker has been telling the world to Keep Walking for over 20 years, but as we emerged from a global pandemic the mantra had become more relevant & important than ever.
Rather than just encourage people to Keep Walking, we celebrated those pushing boundaries in culture by sharing their powerful stories and inspiring audiences around the world to keep moving forward.
The stories are shared via a fully-integrated cultural platform, which provides editorial space for those who sit at the beating heart of local culture to tell their unique stories on their own terms, with a feature documentary embedded at the heart.
Watch the film here
The Documentary
Directed by Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30, Amarachi Nwosu, The Ones Who Keep Walking explores Africa’s groundbreaking creative renaissance by spending time with those reshaping Africa on their own terms.
Inspired by the optimism of the new generation & a cultural need for stories that reflect a true African identity, the film shines a light on those who embody the spirit of Keep Walking by forging a bold new direction for their countries, cultures & the world.
From a continent that hasn’t always been able to express its true identity, we uncovered a collection of powerful stories featuring pioneers from the past as well as the new generation of creatives shaping the future.
Featuring Sampa the Great | Stephen Kayo | Kamo Mphela | Nana Danso | Loza Maléombho | Urban Pitchez | Yeni Kuti | James Barnour | Rakeb Side | Mesai Haileleul | Jefferson Osei | Bose Ogulu | CKAY | Gouled Ahmed | Nandele | WAF | Turkana | Lindiwe Mngxitama
Making The Ones Who Keep Walking with Johnnie Walker was an opportunity to tell a story that reimagines how we see Africa & the creative renaissance taking place. Telling powerful stories from the Afro-futurist lens is what inspires me, so having the opportunity to shine a light on these amazing people & their incredible journeys, all whilst showcasing the spirit & beauty that embodies Africa, is a dream come true.
Amarachi Nwosu, Director
The Impact in Africa
People reached across 16 channels & 13 countries
Hours watched
Unique views of the documentary
Local creatives & partners
Distribution
Sharing the stories where relevant audiences are already spending time and looking to be entertained.
Through our unique distribution model we realised a range of distribution opportunities that wouldn’t have otherwise be possible.
We worked directly with DSTV & Canal+ editorial & commissioning team in Africa, using the documentary approach to create compliant & native content that unlocked distribution & co-promotion opportunities across broadcast & streaming.
This delivered market efficiencies in content creation & utilised working media spend with effectiveness in building relevance & relationships with audiences on the continent & ultimately around the world.
In addition, we’re currently in discussions to extending the license agreement with distribution partners around the world to enable global syndication, all centrally managed by Something3
Amplification
Local relevance, global reach.
To maximise the impact of the film we worked with Johnnie Walker’s brand teams in local markets to support their activations around the launch of the documentary and provided tailored promotional material & access to the talent featured.
The film has also been awarded a range of respected industry awards, as well as press features and mentions from some of the word’s most exciting cultural influencers.
Branding & Art Direction
Celebrating the vibrancy of African culture through a cohesive visual identity.
We delivered a comprehensive brand system, from the typographic logomark, to the wider visual identity, key art, title sequence, website & much more that enabled us to deliver flexibility & consistency across every channel & audience touchpoint.
Content Hub
A centralised, digital destination that could be used across all comms to make it easy for audiences to discover more.
The hub features the trailer, documentary (in regions where it’s not available via distribution partners), key supporting assets as well as analytics & re-targeting capabilities.
Behind the Scenes
200+ Crew. 20 Contributors. 10 countries. 8 weeks.
From Urban Pitchaz’s fashion photography in Kenya, to Nigeria’s social media sensation, CKay. The documentary was made for, and with, those at the beating heart of culture across Africa. All captured during a global pandemic.
Our Role
Strategy | Creative | Production | Media & Distribution | Art Direction | UX & UI | Social
Johnnie Walker | PHD / OMG | Smarts | Julie Machin Ltd | Amarachi Nwosu & Melanin Unscripted | Post Modern