Campaign planning IRL

Not such a tall order, we thought, given that they pretty much invented this stuff. Twenty years after Full Stop launched, it’s still displayed on the altar of campaign success to be gazed upon with awe and envy.

But we knew right away we couldn’t just do the same thing again. We needed a campaign with relevance for a new generation of parents who are raising kids in a changed world of smartphones and social media.

Thankfully, when childhood changed, the NSPCC changed too. 74% of Childline counselling services now take place online rather than over the phone. We quickly realised this was the story we needed to tell, and we were delighted to be appointed by NSPCC to tell it.

And KIDS_IRL was born.

At the heart of the creative is the idea that what we see online isn’t always the full story. Behind the emojis and filters, too many children are still suffering. And some of them are taking their own lives, in real life. In fact, the NSPCC speaks to 60 children every day who are having suicidal thoughts and feelings.

We had an important, relevant story to tell – but we still needed to know where to tell it, and who to tell it to. Working closely with NSPCC’s brand, press and fundraising teams, we developed a campaign strategy and plan and a full audience persona. All our insight told us that this audience want choice in how to help, so we created a campaign with a range of ways to engage. You can give today, give each month, you can badge yourself or simply find out more.

So much of what makes integrated campaigns work goes on behind the scenes – engaging with senior stakeholders, the rapid turnaround of new creative, the detail of journey planning and the agile project management that holds it all together. 

It’s the ultimate project for collaboration. It’s not enough to integrate your media. A team who know and trust each other is essential to success. The NSPCC team have been a dream to work with. Quick, flexible, consistent, the best kind of challenging and ready to be bold.

I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together. An insight-led campaign with creative cut through. An honest telling of the story of childhood in 2020.