A CCTV-style depiction of NHS workers in distress has won Frontline19 – the nationwide service delivering supervision, debriefing and emotional support to healthcare workers in times of crisis – and its agency adam&eveDDB the latest Thinkboxes award for TV creativity.
The two-minute film depicts how NHS workers feel when they’re left alone.
The ad opens with a sombre shot of an ambulance’s interior, where a worker sits in shock staring at the wall after treating a patient – and a series of similarly harrowing sequences follow. The ad ends with a direct appeal to donate to Frontline19 so NHS workers can get the emotional support they need.
Frontline19 is a charity with a tiny budget, which would typically narrow its media options. But it needed to make a significant impact. This made TV the obvious choice, though it can only use it through donations and partnerships.
For this campaign, the charity partnered with Channel 4 and was able to run slots around the broadcaster’s ‘blue light’ (emergency services-themed) programming.
“We read a clinical study with a statistic that over half of NHS frontline workers are suffering from mental illness. It was a stat that we had to check and check again to make sure that it was true, because even for us, who’s worked with (Frontline19) for years, that was shocking,” says adam&eveDDB creative director Darren Beresford.
The team then compared that against the percentage of the British public in poor mental health, which led to the campaign’s central idea: that in many cases, NHS workers are sicker than the patients.
“The main development of the idea came in the research stage. The truth is heartbreaking. So, we drew on the experience of NHS workers and their stories were developed into the scenes featured in the final film,” says adam&eveDDB creative director Richard Gayton.
The decision to build the film from CCTV footage came from a need to convey that NHS workers hide this trauma from those they are treating, Beresford explains: “In front of the public, they put on a brave face as they put the welfare of others above their own.”
CCTV presented an opportunity to share those rare, private moments when NHS workers are no longer able to hold it all in.
This idea was highly visually emotive. And all involved were keen to tap into the clear potential, not only to stand out and maximise reach using TV but also to capitalise on the medium’s unrivalled emotional storytelling capability.
This made casting key, Gayton adds: “It was about finding people with a genuine strength of character – seeing that strength break delivers a real gut punch.”
Understandably, the idea required a compassionate and delicate touch.
“I feel a tremendous responsibility to convey and amplify the stories of the NHS and frontline workers. To capture the reality and the pressures, and to effectively and accurately reflect the mental health challenges they face daily,” says Claire Goodwin-Fee, Frontline19’s founder and chief executive.
“The performances were integral to this and have been received by the frontline community with deep emotion and gratitude, as many have conveyed that they feel seen for the first time.”
Finding the right director was critical.
“We’d worked with Henry (Hobson) several times before. He’s got tremendous versatility and is fantastic at drawing out performances. He was drawn to the project because his mum was a nurse, so he has genuine empathy and personal experience of the trauma that NHS workers face,” says Beresford.
“On top of that, we knew that he came with the tremendous production support you get when you work with MJZ,” adds Gayton.
The trickiest part of the shoot was juggling shooting on multiple CCTV cameras with limited or no playback while ensuring performances were as authentic as possible. Then once in post-production, the team needed to tread carefully to balance the realities of using low-quality CCTV footage with the need for clear storytelling.
Despite such challenges, the result features some powerful and harrowing moments.
“The nurse with her hands on her head, looking straight into the camera is a shot that breaks the fourth wall for a moment and is particularly successful at engaging viewers,” says Beresford.
The film launched in March supported by press and print. And the response to it has been overwhelmingly positive.
“There has been an incredible 1548% uplift in donations since the campaign’s launch – translating to 2865+ hours of free, life-saving therapy to thousands of NHS staff,” says Gayton.
Further, not only did NHS frontline workers feel seen for the first time, many shared it with friends and family to help explain what their daily working lives can look like.
“This is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the team involved, who worked tirelessly to make this film a reality,” says Goodwin-Fee.
“The film has been, and will be, life-changing for them. It has been a highly effective therapeutic tool and a robust vehicle to amplify the voice of many of the overlooked helpers within our society.”
Beresford and Gayton are in total agreement on the key to turning a winning ad from script to screen: “Keep pushing. If you don’t, why would anybody else?”
Second in the March/April Thinkboxes was "Everyday” by Uncommon for Avios. “Post poo euphoria” by FCB London for Andrex was third.
Also shortlisted were “The joy of everyday / I didn’t know” by McCann for Just Eat and “Bring the energy” by adam&eveDDB for Lucozade.
WINNING AD
Agency: adam&eveDDB
Creative team: Richard Brim, chief creative officer; Ant Nelson, executive creative director; Mike Sutherland, executive creative director; Richard Gayton, creative director/art director; Darren Beresford, creative director/copywriter
Client: Claire Goodwin-Fee, CEO and founder, Frontline 19
Production company: MJZ
Director: Henry Hobson
The Thinkboxes, in association with Campaign, are the only bi-monthly awards that celebrate the UK’s world-beating TV ad creativity, in all its forms. They are judged by the Thinkbox Academy – advertising and marketing luminaries who have been involved in award-winning creative work for TV.
Want to see more great work? Head to the Thinkbox hub
Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, in all its forms. Its shareholders are Channel 4, ITV, Sky Media and UKTV. Thinkbox works with the marketing community with a single ambition: to help advertisers get the best out of today’s TV.
