THE POLITE TYPE

TitleTHE POLITE TYPE
BrandTIETOEVRY
Product/ServiceIT SERVICES
Category A01. Data-enhanced Creativity
Entrant TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
Idea Creation TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
PR TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
Production TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
Production 2 GREAT APES Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 3 TMI MELVAS TYPE DESIGN Vantaa, FINLAND
Additional Company THE CHILDREN AND YOUTH FOUNDATION Helsinki, FINLAND
Credits
Name Company Position
Jyrki Poutanen TBWA\Helsinki Chief Creative Officer
Mikko Pietilä TBWA\Helsinki Executive Creative Director
Virpi Grönlund TBWA\Helsinki Client Service Director
Markus Nieminen TBWA\Helsinki Creative Director
Juhana Hokkanen TBWA\Helsinki Innovation Director
Joona Stedt TBWA\Helsinki Account Manager
Simone Bocedi TBWA\Helsinki Senior Content Strategist
Fredrik Stürmer TBWA\Helsinki Art Director
Maria Kuorikoski TBWA\Helsinki Senior Creative
Antti Halme TBWA\Helsinki Senior Creative
Iida Sarpaniemi TBWA\Helsinki Graphic Designer
Atso Wilén TBWA\Helsinki Graphic Designer
Henrik Storsjö TBWA\Helsinki Video Editor
Paula Sonne TBWA\Helsinki Communications Strategist
Saana Simander TBWA\Helsinki Junior Communications Specialist
Sara Pitzén TBWA\Helsinki Junior Communications Specialist
Katariina Ollari TBWA\Helsinki Content Producer
Eemeli Tani TBWA\Helsinki Performance & Analytics Manager
Juho Ojala TBWA\Helsinki Planner
Lisa Myllymäki TBWA\Helsinki Director
Tuukka Tikkanen TBWA\Helsinki Producer
Anton Tevajärvi TBWA\Helsinki Director Of Photography
Aki Karppinen TBWA\Helsinki Gaffer
Mikko Kuoppasalmi TBWA\Helsinki Editor
Anssi Mahlamäki TBWA\Helsinki Motion Designer
Ville-Matti Koskiniemi TBWA\Helsinki Sound Design
Petri Falkenberg Grade One Post Production
Aino Heiniö TBWA\Helsinki Costume Design
Donna Maimon TBWA\Helsinki Casting
Fanny Haga TBWA\Helsinki Photographer
Jonna Yletyinen TBWA\Helsinki Still Producer
Mika Melvas TMI Melvas Type Design Typeface Designer
Jonna Louvrier External Consultant Diversity and Inclusion Advisor
Michaela Moua External Consultant Diversity and Inclusion Advisor
Sara Salmani External Consultant, Inklusiiv Diversity and Inclusion Advisor
Anaka Kobzev TBWA Worldwide Global Head of Corporate Communications
Melissa Gotleib TBWA Worldwide Global Communications Associate
Doug Melville TBWA Worldwide Chief Diversity Officer, North America
Kia Haring TietoEVRY Head of Communications and Sustainablity
Hanne Haapoja TietoEVRY Head of Group Customer Insight
Mari Tuokko TietoEVRY Communications Lead, Finland
Reija Sihlman TietoEVRY Head of PR and Issues Management
Nelli Melin TietoEVRY Digital Content Manager
Annika Uusikari TietoEVRY Content Creator

Why is this work relevant for Creative Data?

In the project an extensive data bank on the vocabulary of cyberbullying was gathered through linguistic analysis and interviews of focus groups representing different cultures. The data was put to use by hacking into the ligature function of an Open Type font, and bringing the vocabulary into the code of the font file. This makes utilizing the data easy for end users, as all they have to do is download the font.

Background

A third of all bullying now takes place online. As an IT company driven by Nordic values, TietoEVRY wanted to enter the public discussion on the downsides and possibilities of technology by proposing a solution for addressing cyberbullying. Drawing from the company’s purpose of enabling a brighter future and an existing partnership with The Children and Youth Foundation, we created The Polite Type: an open-source font that promotes better online language use and empathy. The project aimed to create a platform for public dialogue on digital responsibility with key decision-makers and public sector customers, while bringing in young people as active participants in tackling discriminatory language before it happens, through a positive change in attitudes. The main KPIs outlined by the client were media coverage, reach and awareness, audience growth, engagement, conversion rate and referral traffic.

Describe the Creative idea / data solution (20% of vote)

The Polite Type is a font that recognises and rewrites hate speech. By launching a self-moderating font, TietoEVRY wanted to create discussion about toxic online culture and cyberbullying and innovative ways tech can be used to foster empathy online. A third of all bullying takes place online. Together with The Children and Youth Foundation and diversity and inclusion experts, we identified offensive language related to online bullying and created a word library where each word was given a more inclusive alternative or blocked altogether. This word library was then coded into an Open Type font file, creating a custom font that gives its users direct feedback on their language use. The Polite Type is a font that can be used on any platform. All the functionalities are incorporated inside the font itself, so no applications, keyboards or such have to be installed.

Describe the data driven strategy (30% of vote)

An extensive data bank on the vocabulary of cyberbullying was gathered through linguistic analysis and interviews of focus groups representing different cultures. The results were validated by focus groups in Europe and the US. This ensured relevance and topicality, which was essential in a project that relied on earned media visibility. Supported by researchers at the University of Helsinki, we ran corpus linguistic analyses of online data to create word clouds of vocabulary connected to cyberbullying-related themes identified by those affected by cyberbullying and diversity and inclusion experts. Among others, these themes included gender identity, sexuality, race and ethnicity, body image and socio-economic background. These results were augmented and validated in focus groups representing different backgrounds and minorities. Together with these focus groups, we identified alternative expressions for some of the words and identified some that should be blocked altogether as offensive. These will appear as a blur when typed.

Describe the creative use of data, or how the data enhanced the creative output (30% of vote)

The data was used to build a word library that provides contextual understanding of cyberbullying and discriminatory language related to it. Currently, the data bank consists of around 2,000 terms and expressions identified in the data gathering process and their suggested alternatives. The data was put to use by hacking into the ligature function of an Open Type font, and bringing the vocabulary into the code of the font file. This makes utilizing the data easy for end users, as all they have to do is download the font. The font then recognises and corrects hate speech and discriminatory expressions based on the data gathered. The font’s source code is accessible to anyone who downloads the font, so they can make use of the data and develop the font’s functionalities further.

List the data driven results (20% of vote)

The campaign’s launch generated 637 earned media impressions, 221 of which were news articles. The campaign’s overall reach was 900,598,598, corresponding to an EAV of 8,497,769.31€, indicative of high quality media hits. Since August 2020, the font has been tested on the website 27,467 times and installed by 3,367 users in over 100 countries. 90,5% of all website traffic and 94,2% font downloads resulted from earned media content. 51% of site visitors tested the font. 6% of all site visitors and 12% of those who tested the font installed it. Potential developers and global vendor partners have expressed interest towards The Polite Type. An international school network now uses the font in its schools. There has been interest from new governmental and NGO partners in creating new language versions of the font, with a German language version confirmed.