Rebranding: adding a new verb to the language. Barcelona City Council wants to improve the perception of one of its most unsafe inner city districts: Raval. The campaign consisted of adding a new verb to the Spanish language.
Rebranding: adding a new verb to the language. Barcelona wants to improve the perception of one of its most unsafe districts: Raval. The campaign: adding a new verb to the language.
The once infamous El Raval (formerly El Chino) district of Barcelona still has, for most people, a dangerous image. Even though it is now one of the most culturally rich and active neighbourhoods, many members of the public see it as a ghetto they don't dare visit. The city council commissioned a campaign to improve its perception.
The aim is to attract new visitors to El Raval, change its image and create pride in belonging among its inhabitants. Instead of developing a conventional campaign, we came up with the idea of creating a new verb: ravalejar (ravaling), a verb that lets us express its personality and its way of life, the atmosphere and attitude of the neighbourhood and its people. Revalejar is learning from the neighbourhood’s many cultures and ethnicities.
To introduce this new verb into people’s language, we convinced the client not to sign the communication pieces. In this way we got out with the design and the support typical of a citizen movement. The people’s support and acceptance was immediate. We made posters and material for the neighbourhood shops with a grammar book aesthetic. Also, personalities from the neighbourhood were invited to talk to different media about the new word. Plus, ravalejar was the name of a dish in the neighbourhood’s restaurants.
In collaboration with: SCPF Photography: Special thanks to Luca Tronci, Be Gemot, Mau Mendez, Pratyush and all the people who have shoot it and shared it.
