Voluntary participation key to campaign sustainability: Turkish Red Crescent official

ANTALYA, Turkiye

Campaign sustainability is not possible without the voluntary participation of people, Halil Ibrahim Izgi, an adviser at the Turkish Red Crescent, said Monday.

“No matter what campaign you do, the world is building upon volunteerism. It is not possible to make the campaign sustainable without the voluntary participation of people,” Izgi said at the ongoing Stratcom Youth: International Young Communicators Forum in the Turkish resort city of Antalya.

Izgi explained to young communicators at the forum that everyone gives their time, efforts and heart when you bring voluntary service to the fore in campaigns.

Speaking under the theme of “Communication with the Masses: 360 Degree Campaign Design," he said it is necessary not to pretend but to be sincere to be successful.

He said the concept of a 360-degree marketing plan refers to a marketing campaign that reaches customers at all possible points of contact.

Highlighting the importance of inspiring by different campaigns, he said: "Think simply. Design your story and your campaign simply.”

If we do not have a goal to achieve, no matter how much training we receive, no matter how well equipped we are, a good result cannot be achieved in the end, he said.

“We need to make our voice heard in the right place, at the right time, to the right target audience,” Izgi said, adding it is important to prevent disinformation about the brand.

Noting that the means of communication and the target audience are extremely diverse in today's world, he said that “better, weighed and observable” ideas are needed.

As part of the event, Firat Yurdakul, Anadolu Agency’s visual news editor, said photography is a reflection of cultural and hardware accumulation.

Noting that photography consists of three main elements, including technique, content and aesthetics, he said content is the most important thing in news photography, media and communication.

“Today, Anadolu Agency’s content is used extensively in the world and by Turkish media," he said.

Explaining the role of photographs in visual interaction and communication, he said impact, closeness, emotion, extraordinariness, instantaneity and credibility are important factors for photography.

Erhan Sevenler, a photojournalist and photo editor assistant at Anadolu Agency, discussed war correspondence and journalism in crisis zones.
Presenting the first examples of war photographs, Sevenler said that even though the countries and people in the photographs change, the pain remains the same.

"You don't want to see some scenes. We can't look at some painful scenes for a long time. But we need to make people look at these scenes, we strive for this,” he said.

Attending the event via videoconference, Erem Senturk, Not Haber's editor-in-chief, underlined the importance of following media tools and current developments in communication.