After a week of voting across four rounds, NCDV’s ‘Abusers Always Work From Home‘ has won Marketing Week’s Best Campaign of 2020.
Developed by Wunderman Thompson UK, the message contrasts the novelty of working from home with the stark fact that, for abusers, the home has always been the space where abusers operate.
This campaign was a proactive piece of work, created in just three weeks. With no budget we relied on goodwill and so it was essential that the idea was incredibly powerful, not only to ensure cut through but to ensure production companies, editors and the like would be inspired to help us make it for free. A great many people were moved by the idea and wanted to help us ensure this message reached as many people as possible. BAFTA winning actress, Vicky McClure, was more than happy to record the voice over for the film, directed by Geej Ower. Particularly relevant because Vicky played a woman trapped in a controlling, manipulative relationship in Channel 4’s I Am… Nicola, (2019). Media owners such as JC Decaux, Blow Up Media (through Kinetic) and Clear Channel readily donated (or charged a nominal fee) for thousands of poster sites nationwide – on the basis of the strength of the idea and message. Stylist magazine featured the film in an important piece about domestic abuse and the lockdown. BBC broadcaster, Emma Barnett, organically tweeted about how this ‘advert stops you in your tracks’ and the film was David Reviews ‘Pick Of The Day’.
The film was viewed 750,000 times in a matter of weeks. A host of individual celebrities shared the film on to their followers such as Normal People’s star Daisy Edgar Jones, Josh O’Connor, Genevieve Gaunt, Royce Pierreson, and Shelley King (who plays a woman in an abusive relationship in Coronation Street). Rachel Riley referenced the importance of the campaign in a newspaper interview where she spoke about a close friend of hers who is a survivor of domestic abuse.
Calls for help to the NCDV increased by 25% during this campaign.
Mark Groves, CEO NCDV said: “This idea makes my hairs stand up! What is more important is the contribution this campaign is making towards our mission: to make domestic violence and abuse socially unacceptable. We have seen incredible numbers watching the video, the posters have been spotted all over the country and commented on by celebrities which helps to fuel awareness. I cannot put a value on the success of this whole campaign, utterly tremendous and so it continues!!”
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