Interview with Joan Forrellad, Vice President, JANÉ | Key4Communications |

Every 30 seconds, a child dies from malaria.  Thanks to UNICEF, JANÉ has been able to collaborate, involving their clients in the fight against this disease.  Through the campaign JANÉ, You and UNICEF: United against malaria, 25 million mosquito nets will be distributed to pregnant woman and children under 5.  Joan Forrellad, vice president of JANÉ, explains the importance of this type of initiative in terms of business strategy.

-UNICEF and JANÉ both work for child safety and protection, albeit in different areas.  JANÉ recently announced an agreement to work with this NGO in the fight against malaria.  How did the idea for this initiative come about?
-This project came out of JANÉ’s concern and commitment to society.  We’ve positioned ourselves with a long-standing tradition of working to improve child passenger safety with educational programs like JANÉ Educates in conjunction with RACC, the Spanish automobile association, and through the on-going research in child passenger safety that we’ve been doing in Spain since 2002, also conducted in partnership with RACC.  Other examples include solidarity campaigns with charities like Caritas’ Businesses With Heart program and other smaller campaigns.  Our latest project comes out of a natural alliance that exists between two of the key players working on the front lines of defense for the youngest members of our society, JANÉ and UNICEF.
UNICEF was created in 1946 to uphold the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the base for all the agency’s work.  UNICEF received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 and here in Spain, the Prince of Asturias Award in 2006

-This latest campaign has been launched under the slogan JANÉ, You and UNICEF: United against malaria. What objectives have been set?  What countries will benefit?
-Without a doubt, the main objective is to take advantage of our communication abilities in order to save lives.  Our shared goal with UNICEF is of the upmost importance: to reduce the infant mortality caused by malaria.  We’ve been working to the best of our ability for many years in the Western world (and will continue to do so) to reduce injuries caused by car accidents, making enormous efforts to obtain small advances.  Now, this new alliance gives us the chance to collaborate with and involve our customers in the opportunity to join us in our fight against malaria.  Every 30 seconds a child dies of malaria.  With the help of the team formed by UNICEF, JANÉ and our customers, we can reduce this lamentable figure and save many lives.
JANÉ, You and UNICEF: United against malaria will allow us to distribute 25 million mosquito nets to pregnant woman and children ages 5 and under by 2015 in eight of the most seriously affected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The alliance between JANÉ and UNICEF is an agreement currently active in Spain although it extends in different forms and implications through other European countries like France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Russia. The more countries and people who take an interest in joining our project, the more we will be able to help this cause.

-What marketing or advertising campaigns will be launched in order to inform the public so that they participate?
-We plan to use our usual modes of communication in order to spread information about the program and report on progress made toward our objectives.  Our website, www.jane.es, will be integral with the possibility of making a direct donation to this cause through a link to UNICEF’s donation page.  There will also be special information distributed along with our products through sales points and personalized mailings along with other communications in order to achieve maximum coverage so that we can reach JANÉ and UNICEF’s shared objective: to distribute treated mosquito nets to prevent and fight against malaria.

JANÉ has shown a strong commitment to developing service projects.  What role do these initiatives play in terms of business strategy?
-The strength of JANÉ as a brand is based in two distinguishing values. Firstly, the brand’s commitment to solidarity is backed by our history, our continuous investment in research and community service as evidenced by our studies on child passenger safety with RACC, our education programs and this recent agreement with UNICEF.  The second is the fact that our product range is based on continuous research and product development.  Our product philosophy has remained constant; to offer the best, most distinctive and unique products while ensuring that they have been carefully developed in order to give the best performance possible.  We also strive to pass along advantages to our customers by offering them, and most especially, their children, special features and characteristics which can’t be found in products from other brands.
A number of products and brands with wide distribution have appeared on the market lately, products strongly based on trends and style, designed for short-term use.  These products don’t last as the client eventually realizes what is truly behind this type business and doesn’t easily forgive this sort of company’s lack of vision for the future and a serious commitment to research and the world of infants.
JANÉ’s strategy has always been the polar opposite to this type of frivolity.  The company was founded in 1932 and our philosophy is to perpetuate and strengthen as a business.  That JANÉ is a leader in babycare is unquestionable.  Our ability to communicate, our sense of responsibility and our unflagging implication make our obligation to society a completely natural one.  That is what makes us different, original and absolutely authentic.
We have a moral responsibility which we embrace and try to reinforce daily.  Our customers reward this effort with every purchase they make of our products.  In this particular case, we are giving them a unique opportunity to collaborate directly with a concrete cause by purchasing one of our most representative and successful products: the new Matrix Light car seat/carrier.  In choosing our new Matrix Light model you help to purchase mosquito nets for malaria prevention.