DMI was set up in 2005 by Roy Head, who has spent his career pushing the limits of what mass media can achieve in post-conflict and low-income countries. Roy worked at the BBC and the UN before setting up the health division of the BBC World Service Trust in 1997, and leading award-winning media campaigns in 16 countries. Roy set up DMI to bring scientific rigour to mass media campaigning, by modelling and testing how many lives can be saved, and acting on this.

Objectives

They run radio, television and mobile campaigns to change behaviours and improve lives in developing countries. They generate evidence of impact using robust evaluations, and scale up the most effective campaigns to reach many millions of people. Much of their work has been focused on health (including child survival and family planning), but they also work on other issues (such as early childhood development). They focus on sub-Saharan Africa, but they also work across the developing world.

Organisation

DMI is a UK-based social enterprise with two arms: a community interest company and a company limited by shares. They have a team of 50 people in five offices:

- London, UK
- Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
- Mwanza, Tanzania
- Maputo, Mozambique
- Kinshasa, DR Congo

ACTIVITIES

Research

They design and run large-scale research studies to generate evidence that mass media campaigns can change behaviours in developing countries.

Implementation

When there is evidence that media campaigns work, they work at scale to achieve significant, measurable and sustainable impacts on behaviours.

Consulting

They help other organisations to design, run and evaluate media campaigns by providing them with advisory, training and consulting support. They are developing their advisory services 'offering', and carrying out some pilot assignments for a small group of clients. They are happy to talk to any organisations that might benefit from their expertise and support, including those with a more general interest in reaching audiences in sub-Saharan Africa.