An Introduction To Ingenious—Success Stories of Small Businesses

This post is also available in: Italiano

Hello and welcome to Ingenious! A new global initiative launched in partnership with Mastercard and Pollinate. What’s Ingenious? Well, a lot of things really when you start to think about it: the way our society has pulled together through the last 18 months, the local, small businesses that have pivoted and innovated their way through the minefield, and also you lot - the creatives who have the power to bring all these stories to light.

Let’s cut to the chase and tell you a bit more about the task at hand. Your Ingenious mission is to capture inspiring stories of small businesses in your local community with a 2-3 minute documentary-style film. It should show how reinvention, reimagining, reconnecting, or entrepreneurship has enabled them to succeed. 

Key Dates

• June 25th - Open for entries
• August 6th - Final deadline, 23:59 BST
• September 1st - Winners announced

The film should also demonstrate how businesses or entrepreneurs have adapted to using digital tools in the face of Covid, alongside its wider economic and social impact. The best films will be awarded up to $40,000 and all businesses featured will receive a package of free digital resources to accelerate their business even more! 

Pollinate and Mastercard are passionate about the personal and economic contribution of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). They see Ingenious as a way we can applaud the creativity of those businesses. As a company that uses technology, data, and payments to unlock the potential of small businesses, they also wanted to focus on those aspects that are changing rapidly and redefine what a small business can be.

There are four broad themes and your film should focus on one of the following: Get Paid, Get Digital, Get Capital, Loyal to Local. Find out more about these and interview starter questions in the full brief. We are looking for fascinating, personal stories that audiences will be moved by, incorporating passion as well as the tools and tech that these local legends have combined to survive this turbulent time.

No business is too small to be Ingenious, or to have its story told. Street shops, bodegas, start-ups, freelance creatives, and market stalls—entrepreneurs of all kinds are welcome!

Got questions? Drop us a line at: support@zooppa.com

Good Luck!
Zooppa Community Team