Standard Bank turns #GoodFollowsGood into stationery

For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. Some call it the concept of cause and effect. Others would term it reaping what you sow. Standard Bank calls it #GoodFollowsGood.

Standard Bank Group has launched a first of a kind, Tweet Machine, a mobile industrial container that acts as a factory of sorts by linking the global reach of social media to 3D printers and laser cutters and is expected to produce 1000 set square and ruler kits for Grade 6 learners.

Standard Bank launched the Tweet Machine campaign to show that positive actions and words can be transformed into tangible outcomes that have a lasting impact on people’s lives.

#GoodFollowsGood

The idea will be to kick-start a positive impact initiative on social media by encouraging South Africans to tweet about something positive using the #GoodFollowsGood hashtag.

Standard Bank will then facilitate the forward payment of this positivity by transforming these tweets into stationery sets for learners that are part of the Standard Bank Tutuwa-BRIDGE School Programme.

The five-year partnership with Tutuwa-BRIDGE seeks to support schools in improving learner outcomes. Both learners and school performance will be monitored to ensure that the impact is effective and long-lasting.

How it works

The technology powering the Tweet Machine is a customised Python programming script on a master computer to scrape Twitter and other social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn for posts using the #GoodFollowsGood hashtag.

The social media posts will be fed to a special micro-controller unit called a Raspberry Pi, which will send the appropriate print commands to the 3D printers and laser cutters housed inside the Standard Bank Tweet Machine.

“Our goal is to use the power of social media to illustrate that everything you do sets something in motion. The Tweet Machine activation is a live demonstration of positive words having a positive impact, while at the same time creating tangible education tools to benefit young learners,” said Katlego Mahleka, senior brand manager at Standard Bank Group.

The public will be able to view and contribute to the stationery by posting on social media and feeding directly into the printers and laser cutters as they work. The activations will be held at two venues in Johannesburg: Melrose Arch Square (30 August - 2 September 2018) and at the SingularityU Summit (15-18 October 2018).

Lasting impact

The lasting impact of this activation will continue into the future, as two of the three 3D printers will be donated to an all-female black cooperative made up of dependents of South African military veterans. Thanks to an upskilling programme conducted by Business Development Service Provider, Human Capital Learning Solutions (HCLS), in partnership with the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) and the Standard Bank Enterprise Development team, the cooperate will use the 3D printers to establish an innovation and education centre called InfoTech Café, which will provide IT services to the Sedibeng community.

InfoTech Café

The InfoTech Café will leverage the 3D printers to enable young entrepreneurs and engineers to prototype design concepts for the purpose of making proposals to potential investors. In addition, the centre will provide assistance to learners with school projects; printing solutions for small business and community events; and small business services including Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC) registrations, business planning, marketing collateral design, as well as Information Technology (IT) training. The remaining printer will be given to the Standard Bank Incubator to help small businesses develop concept prototypes.