People take the heart for granted. It just keeps beating. Until it doesn’t. Research, like that of British Heart Foundation, keeps battling heart disease. A new campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi makes that matter.
The hero commercial for the new campaign by British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Saatchi & Saatchi takes a journey inside a woman’s heart to remind people of the wonder, preciousness and vulnerability of their own heart. The film is voiced by Cillian Murphy, who also narrated the charity’s This is Science spot in January 2022.
The campaign, The Greatest Treasure, is the second iteration of This is Science – the brand platform launched to position the charity as a crucial frontline agent in the battle to outsmart heart disease. By taking its hero inside her own heart, the creative uses a new visual world to show it in a different way: both as a scientifically complex space, and a powerful emotional hard drive for life’s most important moments.
The campaign covers TV, VOD, digital, social and below the line. The film – voiced by Cillian Murphy, who also narrated the charity’s This is Science spot in January 2022 – begins with its hero, Libi, waking up inside her heart; a world reimagined as an electric, textural landscape.
To develop the world of the heart, Saatchi & Saatchi’s creative team took advice from BHF medical experts and heart scientist, professor Pablo Lamata. The agency also worked closely with Machine Molle to ensure the CGI-led vision was rooted in the real workings of the heart, with the misfiring electricity representative of an arrhythmic heart condition. The ad’s score, composed by James William Blades, is driven by a heartbeat, and uses an irregular beat to evoke both arrhythmia, and a subtle feeling of unease – which becomes regular as the film concludes.
Claire Sadler, chief marketing and fundraising officer at the BHF, stated, “It was exciting to collaborate with Saatchi & Saatchi on such an ambitious and creative project as they support us in helping people reconnect with the preciousness of their hearts and our vital work.
Central to our hero’s journey is the theme of discovery, which runs through the campaign – echoing the crucial work of our scientists. From discovering undetected heart conditions to finding new ways to understand the heart more deeply, the work highlights how BHF funded research results in breakthroughs that can save and transform people’s lives.”
Franki Goodwin, chief creative officer, Saatchi & Saatchi, added, “For this year’s brand campaign we wanted to connect people to the power and fragility of their own hearts. By creating a parallel between the personal discovery of the myriad ways our hearts serve us throughout our lives, and the vital research the BHF do that can then save those that go wrong, we hope we’ve shown through this campaign that our greatest treasure is truly within our chest, and there’s more to discover through donations.”
Credits:
Client: British Heart Foundation
Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Chief Creative Officer: Franki Goodwin
Executive Creative Director: Paddy Fraser
Creative Lead: Mia Silverman
Planning Director: James Mitchell
Head of Strategy: Sam Wise
Managing Partner: Humphrey Taylor
Business Lead: Paul Mchugh
Account Director: Zara Hutchins
Agency Producer: Stephanie Evans
Executive Production Director: Sam Robinson
Media Buying Agency: PHD
Media Planner: Laura Farmer
Production Company: Somesuch
Director: Vincent Haycock
Producer: Tash Tan & Elly Camisa
Editor: Amanda James @ Final Cut
Post-Production Company: Machine Molle
Producer: Raminta Poskute
Sound Engineer: Mark Hills @ Factory
Colour: Company 3 London
Colourist: Simon Bourne
Colour Assistants: Santino Napolitano, Karl Pasamonte & Jack Kennedy
Colour Producers: Chris Anthony & Kerri Aungle
Colour Executive Producer: Ellora Soret
