2014 Silver Best Creative Solution or Innovation

Client Business in the Community (BITC)

Other contributors Blink (Production Company)- MPC (Post Production)- Grand Central (Sound Design)- Final Cut (Editing)- Holler (Part of Leo Burnett Group) (Digital Production)

How did the campaign make a difference? In the UK, once someone has a criminal conviction they have to declare it by ticking a box on a form whenever they apply for a job. This makes securing employment almost impossible and being unemployed makes them significantly more likely to reoffend – in turn costing the UK economy £11bn per year.

BITC is attempting tackle this by calling on UK employers to create a fair opportunity for ex-offenders by removing this tick box from initial application forms.

During the campaign, 17 companies removed the box indicating whether an applicant has a criminal record, allowing all applicants to be assessed equally. The most notable of these is Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, who publicly cited the Second Chance online film as the trigger for deciding to 'ban the box'.

Strategy BITC's challenge was to get 20 new companies to put in the considerable amount of work required to 'Ban The Box'.

The insight was that prejudice against ex-offenders is one of the last socially acceptable prejudices – it is seemingly perfectly OK to assume, or even declare, that you don't feel comfortable being around or working with someone who has been in prison.

The strategy was to create a moment where people were confronted by their own prejudice – maybe one they didn't even know they had – and make them fundamentally question the validity of this in themselves and in others.

BITC wanted to build something into the experience of the communication itself: to create a subverted expectation that would leave people questioning themselves.

Creativity Tension between what the viewer expected and what they got created cut-through and memorability, despite a distinctly un-sexy subject matter.

An interactive YouTube ad showed a young interviewee explaining he'd just left prison. But each time the viewer hit 'skip' the ex-offender became increasingly distressed. In the end, he shares his disappointment that the viewer won't give him a second chance and directs them to the BITC site. But, if the man was able to speak freely he grew in confidence and thanked the viewer for listening.

Press ads told a recruiter's thoughts as they read through a CV and rejected the ideal candidate because of their criminal record. DM versions were sent to heads of HR and invited them to a BITC event to learn more. A radio ad mirrored the CV print, whilst another imitated a phone-in where an ex-offender was cut off each time they dialled in.

Results This campaign has been five times more effective at opening up jobs for ex-offenders than similar efforts in the USA.

17 organisations, collectively employing 175,000 people, signed up to ban the box – no small task, requiring a major overhaul of the recruitment process. Most notable is Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, one of the world's most prestigious law firms, who cited the video as their trigger: "We'd been talking about it for a while but the spark for change came when a Partner at the firm shared the film with the HR and PR teams. Seeing the issue from a different perspective encouraged everyone to take action and within weeks we'd banned the box."

627 ex-offenders have now found employment, translating to a saving of approximately £29.5million to the UK economy.

The campaign also triggered global media coverage, reaching an estimated 5 million people.