2021 Silver Charity

Agency: Havas London and Havas Media Group

Client: Nubian Jak Community Trust

Campaign Name: Black Plaque Project

Campaign Overview

Britain has paid tribute to notable men and women since 1866 by placing blue plaques on London buildings where they lived or worked.

Only 1.6% of those honoured were of African or Caribbean descent: the brief was to preserve these precious stories of Black achievements, to inspire future generations.

Strategy

In 2020, with the Black Lives Matter movement at a global tipping point, there were mass demonstrations in London and all over the country against institutional racism.

The focus of people's anger became the divisive historical figures from Britain's colonial past who have been immortalised with bronze statues.

These became emblematic of the issue of systemic racism in Britain, and many were vandalised or pulled from their pedestals.

The issue is just as much about those who have not been recognised with memorials as those who have.

There was a tactical opportunity to highlight the deficit of diversity in one of Britain's oldest and most respected commemorative schemes - London’s blue plaques.

Havas partnered with the Nubian Jak Community Trust, an influential voice among London's Afro Caribbean community, to call out the issue and help make the plaques more inclusiv

Creativity

The Black Plaque Project championed 30 of Britain's forgotten Black heroes with temporary fixtures on buildings in central London.

The project was launched with an immersive and informative mobile platform which geo-mapped the sites and told the full stories behind each Black plaque.

In collaboration with The Nubian Jak trust and a panel of experts from the Afro Caribbean community, Havas identified 30 people meriting posthumous recognition for their outstanding contributions to British society.

Work began with district councils, building owners and tenants to negotiate the plaques’ temporary installation. London effectively became an outdoor installation of curated, forgotten and lost stories of Black Britons.

Buildings that remained anonymous for years now told the tales of their important occupants. An ecosystem of film content, billboards, print and social media were all used to activate public support and interaction.

Results

The initiative won the full support of the Mayor of London's office, which is hugely influential in bringing about social and political change in the city.

English Heritage has responded positively and turned Winifred Atwell's temporary Black plaque into a permanent blue one; more are expected to follow.

The initiative was covered extensively by ITV, serialising the unveiling of the first four plaques on evening news bulletins each Friday for a month.

For Winifred Atwell's temporary Black plaque to become a permanent blue plaque after just three months was an unexpected momentum on which to build the campaign.

The initiative ensured the successful reintroduction of at least 30 forgotten Black heroes to a new generation of Britons

The Team

Havas London - Vicki Maguire, Chief Creative Officer - Andy Lockley, Creative Partner - Ken Abalos, Copywriter - Sam Adio, Art Director - Lorenzo Fruzza, Head of Design - Simon Baker, Digital Design Director - Shaun Musgrove, Head of Creative Services - Claire Lillis, Art Buying Director - Ali Cooper, Head of Production - Joseph Ogunmokun, Agency Producer - Nikola Oksiutycz, Agency Producer - Ravi Matharu, Strategy Director - Ally Chapman, Strategy Director - Milan Zum, Hebel Junior Strategist - Asa Nowers, Junior Strategist - Xavier Rees, CEO - Jennifer Black, Managing Director - Tamara Greene, Business Director - Hannah Thomas, Account Executive - Bukola Garry, Diversity & Inclusion Manager - Ollie Dearn, PR Director - Faye Raincock, PR Director - Evie Ungemuth, Resource Assistant - Annika Sintim, Head of Business Affairs

Havas Media Group - Simon Bevan, Chief Investment Officer - Chris Allen, Head of Investment & Activation - Sarah Johnson, Business Director