Nelson Mandela’s life imagined in social media

This is one of the coolest campaigns we’ve seen in a while. It takes the form of a YouTube video that imagines former South African president Nelson Mandela’s life through social media.

The video plays out Nelson Mandela’s life as we use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. The internationally respected statesman turns 94 tommorrow. People around the world are celebrating the date, and the video from Prezence Digital will join the likes of a five metre banner — to be revealed during tomorrow’s stage of the Tour de France.

According to Prezence Digital CEO Prakash Patel, the idea for the video came about over a year ago. It started with simple premise: “with the increase in the usage of the internet, penetration of mobile and explosion of social media sites combined with advancement in technology, we have changed in the way we live our lives, communicate, participate, entertain, connect, engage with a cause, faster and further than ever before.”

Bearing this in mind, the video asks a few questions, including: would Mandela have spent 27 years in captivity if he (and others) had access to the same technology, social media platforms and tools as we do today; looking at what happened in Egypt and the other Arab Spring nations? The answer, says Prezence is a simple, “maybe not”.

The Centre of Memory, which as part of its mandate focuses on the life and times of Nelson Mandela, has decided to embed the video on both its website and to seed the video on social media via the official Nelson Mandela Twitter and YouTube accounts as part of a natural viral campaign which will be launched today.

“For us, getting the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory’s blessing was the ultimate endorsement on the content produced by the team. The video clearly shows South Africa is not lacking in creative ideas that provoke an emotional connection with people all over the world,” says Patel.

Using the hashtag #MandelaStory Prezence hopes the video goes viral. “We hope viewers find the video inspirational and educational; hopefully deeply moving, thought-provoking, and resonant. Beyond that, we hope it does this in a fun in a language we all understand,” the Prezence CEO adds.