Bridge Studio Creative Director James Eccleston’s trip to Kenya over the summer preluded the launch of an exciting new collaboration with Viajes Tumaini…

Bridge Studio’s brand workshops provide businesses with the opportunity to discover who they really are. We help organisations channel their inner voice to authenticate their operations, connect better with their customers, and ultimately leverage growth. We use our brand workshops for good, helping business who help humanity. 

Bridge Studio supports businesses that help make the world a better place, working primarily with NGOs, fintech start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses who want to make the step from small to global operations. But, this summer, our mission was that little bit more unique.  

Working with the NGO Tumaini

Spain-based NGO (or ONG in Spanish) Viajes Tumaini help voluntary workers connect with communities in the developing world. Primarily geo-focused on Asia, Africa, and Latin America, Tumaini help animals, people, and our planet. 

Tumaini epitomises the type of business that we, at Bridge Studio, love to work with in our brand workshops for good. This summer, we took our professional relationship with Tumaini to the next level, helping disadvantaged communities at the heart with our first mission 8000 kilometres away in Kenya.  

With Tumaini, Bridge Studio is bringing brand Workshops for Good to disadvantaged people all around the world. 

Our brand workshops for good with Tumaini were first delivered to the Maasai women in Kenya who make artisan products, such as jewellery, baskets, and clothes (amongst other things). 

The Maasai people of Kenya have a rich history. They are one of most well known African tribes due to their links with the national game parks of east Africa, in Kenya and Northern Tanzania. The Maasai Mara National Reserve in Southern Kenya is named in honour of the Maasai people. 

Their cultural history is rooted in big game hunting. Until recently, a Maasai boy was only considered a warrior if they killed a lion single-handedly with a spear. Cattle forms a large part of the Maasai’s life, culture, and trade. 

In recent decades, the Kenyan government has encouraged the Maasai people to move away from their semi-nomadic lifestyle. This has occurred to a fairly large extent. However the Maasai people, even now working in the modernised, urban world, want to stay true to their strong, colourful heritage. 

The brand workshops for good

How did Bridge Studio and Tumaini help Maasai women better their product sales? 

The first of our brand workshops for good in Kenya focused upon story telling. When James arrived in Kenya with Monica Herreras Martinez of Tumaini, they decided to use role play to help the Maasai women better understand the interpersonal dynamic at play between a salesperson and a customer. 

We began by introducing a bad role play to the Maasai woman, where we sold too aggressively or displayed poor body language. Then, the sellers explored the ins and outs of the role play, commenting on how they could better connect with the customer. 

For example, the bracelets that the Maasai women craft take up to a day to make. They are all furnished in rich cultural traditions, with the designs each having a unique meaning. The aim of our workshop was to support the sellers in improving their communication of these incredible stories and traditions to add weight to their sales. 

Within this, we were teaching the brand workshops for good members some key branding principles. The value of the human, personal touch is something that we constantly work with on differing scales with the organisations that normally partake in our workshops back in Madrid. The only thing that makes a business truly unique is the people behind it, and this is where the Maasai women are some of the most authentic businesspeople of all. 

Want to properly portray the power of people in your branding? Get in touch today.