“Children are precious. Yet as a society we are failing them. No child in Ireland should experience poverty, neglect or not have a home. This work is about getting people to stop and think about these issues and support Barnardos in changing these children’s lives.” That’s according to Laurence O’Byrne, creative director with the creative agency Boys and Girls.
O’Byrne is describing the agencies new campaign for Barnardos,the children’s charity that aims to transform children’s lives through a range of services it offers children and their parents.
The campaign shines a light on the injustices that children in Ireland face everyday and that result in childhoods being lost whether it’s to homelessness, poverty and neglect. A call to action in the advertising calls on people to take notice, take responsibility and “Join the search at Barnardos.ie/Lost.”
The campaign includes an immersive 360-degree film that puts viewers in control of searching for a lost child, a 60 second TV commercial and a suite of 24 posters for Outdoor and Social. The central idea behind the work is that there is nothing more terrifying than a child being lost. Even just for a moment. But in Ireland, Barnardos calculates that one in seven children are being lost every day to issues like homelessness, poverty and neglect.
Barnardos CEO Fergus Finlay says: “For too long children have not been a priority politically, and childhood itself has not been valued as it should be – as the most important time of a person’s life. Thanks to a generous legacy gift, Barnardos was in a position to engage an agency to work with us to create a campaign to grab people’s attention and make people stop and think. Boys and Girls have been fantastic partners during this process, in both their ambition to create a strong campaign and in their drive to deliver powerful assets that will not only grab the attention of the audience, but deliver real change”.
“Everything we do is about creating great work that works.”, adds Chris Upton, business director and co-founder at Boys and Girls. “And we are very grateful for this opportunity to partner with Barnardos to raise awareness of their great work, and most importantly to help bring about the changes needed so that all children in Ireland are valued.”
Rory Hamilton, Executive Creative Director and co-founder at Boys and Girls adds: “Barnardos do important work, but people don’t always take notice. With this campaign we wanted to force them to – by using technology to put them in the shoes of a parent who has lost a child. Making them act, and then showing them all the children lost to poverty, homelessness and neglect. We are really proud of this campaign because like Barnardos, we believe that no child should be lost.”
Credits:
Client Team
CEO – Fergus Finlay
Director of Support Services at Barnardos Ireland – Jacki Conway
Communications Manager – Rachel Boyce
Head of Advocacy and Supporter Engagement – June Tinsley
Director of Fundraising – Mary Gamble
Fundraising Manager – Seán Bergin
Campaigns Officer – Sinead Corcoran
Head of Digital and Content – Jean O’Brien
Director of Children’s Services – Suzanne Connolly
Agency: Boys & Girls
Executive Creative Director – Rory Hamilton
Creative Director – Laurence O’Byrne
Copywriter – Kris Clarkin
Junior Copywriter – Georgia Murphy
Art Director – Mikey Fleming
Business Director – Chris Upton
Account Director – Ottilie Culloty
Senior Account Manager – Sorcha Brady
Account Executive – Chloe Bolton
Head of Strategy – Margaret Gilsenan
Senior Planner – Chloe Hanratty
Digital Strategist – Aoife Murphy
Head of Production – Derek Doyle
Producer – Sarah Chadwick
Designers: Cian O Connell, Maxi Mc Donnell, Barry Smith, Trevor Nolan
Head of Digital – Shane Casey
Production Company – The Sweetshop
Director – Ben Dawkins
Executive Producer – Spencer Dodd
Producer – Ben Mann
Production Manager – Rachael Donson
DOP – M7 Virtual
Post-Production – Glassworks
Composer – Echolab
Web Bureau
Senior Digital Account Manager – Diane Murphy
Senior Digital Account Manager (Strategy) – Gavin McKechnie
Media Agency – Mindshare
Chief Operating Officer – Ken Nolan
Account Director – Peter Flanagan
Account Manager – Oisin Fahy
