2017 Bronze Best use of the moving image or audio

krow

Client: RNLI

Float to Live

Campaign overview

Everyone who falls unexpectedly into cold water wants to do the same; to swim hard and fight. But it’s a fight they won’t win.

RNLI needed to teach the public to go against their instincts in order to save lives.

Strategy

Krow studied, with experts from the RNLI and the University of Portsmouth, how people got into difficulty in cold water, and what they needed to do to survive.

The key issue? People were drowning because they were fighting the cold water; it strained their heart, cooled their skin, and increased their chances of inhaling water.

The RNLI aimed to deliver a simple piece of advice; one that could be easily recalled and executed in the panic of a real life and death situation.

The messaging and media would target 16-39 year old men; the country's most at risk group. The media strategy also evolved from generating reach to focusing on creating impact.

Creativity

Because all of us share the same instinct, and it's a killer, Krow dramatised the surprisingly large number of people who die at the coast each year, by following their instinct to swim hard, and how they could ultimately save their lives via a simple skill: Float to live.

The creative not only told people that they needed to float, should they find themselves in a dangerous situation, it also showed them how to float using a 'starfish' positioning and gentle sculling and/or kicking.

The combination of creative scale, drama and impact; the news of insight and messaging; and the portability of practical advice and skills made the campaign inherently shareable, and the individual executions of the campaign were also delivered via an ecosystem, designed to generate impact, relevancy and shareability.

Results

People are not just recalling the RNLI’s message; they're acting on it, too.

The first 12 weeks of the campaign and 'float to live' message helped to save six lives.

Their insight, strategy and execution ensured people would remember what they should and shouldn't do if they got into trouble in the water.

The RNLI brand tracker reports a significant increase in awareness of the core skill the charity was aiming to communicate. Trying to float first if you fall into water increased significantly from 52% pre campaign, to 59% post the campaign, amongst the core audience of 16-39 year old men.

The film eclipsed all media targets, delivering two to three times what was expected on YouTube.

Team

Camilla Moran (Business Director) krow - Matt Watts (Planning Director) krow - Will Saunders (Managing Partner/ Business Planning Director) krow - Matt Allen (Art Director) krow - Nigel Roberts (Copywriter) krow - Tim Robertson (Creative Director) krow - Jenny Walker (Account Manager) krow - Sushi Tester (Agency Producer) krow - Jo Forrester (Senior Marketing Manager) RNLI - Ross Macleod (Marketing) RNLI - Jenny Clark (Senior Research Manager) RNLI - Laura Haslam (Public Relations) RNLI - Maria Lorenzo-Dus (Marketing) RNLI - Oli Dillion (Social Media Content) Officer RNLI - Mike Tipton (Professor of Human and Applied Physiology) RNLI

Contributors

Nice Shirt Films (Film Production) - Jungle Studios (Sound Production) Trim Editing Raised by Wolves (Post Production)