Charity campaigns, Save The Children’s included, tend to trigger the desire to help by showing the needs of other humans who are suffering. Don’t Panic has taken the charity down a new road, triggering the desire to help by showing the joy of solving the problems of those who have been suffering.
With over 100 years’ experience working with and for children across 115 countries, Save the Children has witnessed countless times the importance of a single moment that can change the course of a child’s life. This is the story that the new campaign tells. Like any NGO, Save the Children, relies on its supporter base to ensure it can carry out life-changing work. Save the Children has fought for a fairer world for children since 1919.
The campaign, Our Proudest Moments Are Theirs, is running UK TV and social media. It tells the story of three children helped by Save the Children; a baby born in rural Liberia, a young Bangladeshi girl being reunited with her mother and a 9 year old boy going to school for the first time in a Syrian refugee camp.
The baby is born with the help of Save the Children trained midwife, Alice; a story based in fact, inspired by the tale of Alice Sumo. Alice, ‘one of the world’s busiest midwives’ delivered her first baby in a street at gunpoint, in war-torn Liberia. Over the last 28 years, Alice has delivered over 1,000 babies named after her; a whole community, with ages ranging from 30 years to a few weeks old. Alice is portrayed by an actress who, like the real Alice, travels on a motorbike to a rural community to help Lucy through her labour. This story is framed by two others; Ali, a young refugee who attends school run by Save the Children for the first time in a Syrian camp and learns to write his name. And, Milli who is reunited with her mother in Bangladesh, as part of a Save the Children reunification programme, after having been separated for a year.
Kate Hewitt, director of brand & creative, Save the Children UK, commented, “We’re incredibly proud of the work we at Save the Children have done and continue to do, but in a challenging market, we need more than ever to sustain and grow support for the future. One way to do this is by sharing stories of our work and demonstrating how we create lasting change, with and for children. This campaign is one of the steps we’re taking to increase the public’s understanding around our role and impact, whilst building a stronger emotional connection to drive greater support.”
Often the public thinks a crisis is only a short-term event, leading them to see Save the Children’s work as an ‘emergency response’, having a clear beginning and end. Our Proudest Moments Are Theirs demonstrates to the audience that the charity is part of a much longer recovery and development journey. Moving the audience away from the misconception that Save the Children only responds in emergencies, the campaign highlights its purpose for children, every minute, every day, all around the world.
George McCallum, creative director, Don’t Panic, noted, “We want people to see Save the Children for what it is – a collaborator – offering tailored, compassionate and impactful support, regardless of where it might be needed. The organisation doesn’t just ride in when disaster strikes. It is there for all the moments, big and small. For this campaign we focussed on those moments; things that change the course of children’s lives.”
“We used a naturalistic mise-en-scène to closely mirror the real world, while remaining true to the authentic emotions and the actual narratives in these real-life stories. I loved the freedom during this process and the opportunity to explore complex human emotions and social situations. Working closely with Don’t Panic and Save the Children was a great collaboration,” added Marcus Söderlund, director, Academy.
Our Proudest Moments Are Theirs launched the 60- second hero & 30-second Liberia films on Thursday, September 14 on Channel 4, ITV and satellite and digital stations including VOD across the South East. A social campaign will support the work, using Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Media has been planned and booked by Essence Media Com.
Credits:
Client: Save The Children
Client Lead: Laura Solomon
Creative Lead: Lucy Titterington
Safeguarding Lead & Photographer: Tom Maguire
Head of Brand: Emma Cooke
Director of Brand: Kate Hewitt
Head of Creative Content and Stories: Ivy Lahon
Senior Insight Manager: Maylis Rasmussen
Creative Agency: Don’t Panic
Founder: Joe Wade
Strategic Partner: Ellie Moore Strategist: Anna Petrescu
Creative Partner: Rick Dodds
Creative Director: George McCallum
Creative: Katie Richardson
Client Partner: Jane Marshall
Head of Client Services: Georgia Williams
Senior Account Manager: Harriet Alway
Executive Producer: Jennifer Clare Houlihan
Junior Producer: Ani Bosco
Production Company: Academy
Director: Marcus Söderlund
Joint Managing Director: Medb Riordan
Executive Producer: Darapen Vongsa-Nga
Producer: Kishan Patel
Production Manager: Georgia McClure
DOP: Daniel Takacs
Service Production Company: Ginger Ink
Producer: Guy Wilson
Production Manager: Tina Kabuthu
1st AD: Isaya Evans
Editing: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Ben Canny
Executive Producer: Annabel Bennett
Producer: Ella Sedgwick
Edit Assistants: Steven Waltham & Thomas Sheriff
Post-production & Sound: Rascal
Executive Creative Director: Kalle Lundberg
2D Lead: John Thornton
Colourist: James Bamford
Sound Designers: Neil Johnson & Izaak Buffin
Executive Producer: Matt Towell
Producer: Stacia Akaba
Colour Producer: Ben Spalding
Sound Producer: Maddy Lebel
Music: Score – Lisa Nordstöm; Bangladesh – Linus Hasselberg; Liberia – Linus Hasselberg; Syria – Christian Olsson
