Hiding in Plain Sight

Tragically, reports of sexual abuse on children are increasing, rising dramatically during the Covid lockdown periods. Barnardos, quite simply ‘goes there’ as an organisation; fearlessly tackles, supports and cares, often across situations that are still seen as ‘taboo’ or ‘too hard’.

For too long victims of sexual abuse has been in ‘the dark’.

OutThink

This campaign was the ‘litmus test’ for Barnardos USP of ‘Fearlessly Optimistic’ newly developed by Outfox. A brave new evolution in organisational thinking, designed to be razor-focussed in ensuring Barnardos belief system is reflected in external communications: A key insight around Sexual Abuse in children is that it often remains hidden, ignored or mistaken for other ailments as the child struggles to call out for help. This psychological response, combined with society’s preference to ‘look away’ means that too often, the child that needs to be seen, heard and believed is simply over-looked. Quite simply they are hiding in plain sight.

OutPut

The creative was developed to highlight this issue, and literally force ‘fresh eyes’, because until we can ‘see’ and acknowledge the issue, we cannot assist. Our approach showed children in various everyday scenes where the viewer had to find them.
Amplifying the ‘Fearlessly Optimistic narrative, something we felt essential in order not to alienate our audience, noting the ‘Compassion Fatigue’ a lot of charities cause. For us the facts were simple, for too long victims of sexual abuse has been in ‘the dark’, we had to literally show how Barnardos helps them step out from the shadows.
This was not the typical approach designed to drive pity from hopelessness, rather, it’s about showing how Barnardos empowers and equips those affected to move forward toward a more optimistic future. Allowing us to create more engaging content for YouTube, online display banners, paid social and paid search. With messaging replicated on the Barnardos homepage design, ‘thank you’ banners and EDMs for donators.
With media attention highlighting cases such as Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins, we ensured our campaign targeted those most statistically likely to donate, but also against a younger audience, including males as we believed that connecting to the ‘turning tide’ could create strong future advocacy for the important work Barnardos does.