Everything – Knife Crime

Knife crime cuts deep

I was honoured to have played a part in this powerful campaign for knife crime. Everything already had the extremely impactful idea, sub copy and the bones of a script. I worked with them to finesse sub copy and produce more scripts.

The core concept for the campaign is based on a text message conversation that’s deeply emotive, sensitive, and thought-provoking. The messages resonate instantly, communicating in no uncertain terms that knife crime can have devastating effects for individuals, families, and communities. I wrote a diverse range of narratives based on true stories of knife crime and informed by the experiences of the young people who worked with Everything to co-produce the campaign.

“It started with our idea but it was absolutely your input to make those narratives so moving. Still get chills every time.” 

Mickey Devine, Everything

Kim McGuiness, Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner said, “We know this is how young people communicate, but the emotional nature of the message is important. You see this message [I miss you so much] and it’s not delivered and you’re not going to get a reply, and that’s a poignant message. People have had a very visceral reaction to it. It’s important young people see this message.”

The use of social media and mobile ads were used to considerable success, with a total of 8.1 million impressions (people who saw the campaign on their device) across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and mobile location targeting.

Tanya Brown, from the Conner Brown Trust, who lost her son to knife crime said of the Knives Impact Everyone campaign, “It’s so simple yet it has such a hard-hitting message, it just hits you and it will affect anybody [who reads it] and that’s what we need to get across. Seeing a message like that will have an impact”. Big thank you to Everything for bringing me on board. Another dream team to work with.

Credits:
Mark Slater for Photography
James Taylor for Motion