SSAFA
Requesting Backup
An advert for a fully-integrated marketing campaign
The brief
SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, originally approached us to work on an advert at the heart of a fully-integrated brand awareness campaign at the end of 2022. Our mission was to connect with SSAFA’s audiences on an emotional level, communicate the breadth of the charity’s services for those serving in the military and veterans to potential partners, and raise awareness with the general public.
Our conversations kept circling back to a bold idea: telling the story of one central character. Through his eyes, we’d explore the realities of military life — both in service and after. A decade of poignant, personal experiences.
We needed a truly creative approach that would allow us to capture the different lived experiences of those who serve while clearly demonstrating the many different touchpoints of support that the charity provides.
The approach
Our vision was clear. We’d anchor our story in one location, using a single stage that would transform into the worlds our protagonist inhabited. By keeping him in the same space of each frame, while the world around him morphed, and using the absolute bare minimum of props in each scenario, we would allow the audience to recognise each situation.
We wanted it to be clear to the audience that it was an actor in the role to strip back the advert and communicate the essence of the experience of many of SSAFA’s beneficiaries. Stage hands would move props in and out unseen by the protagonist, and adopt character roles to interact with him when the scene required it.
Through the use of minimal props and subtle staging, the scenes would shift seamlessly — allowing the audience to focus on the emotional weight of our protagonist’s journey.
The Space
Our search for the perfect location brought us to Wagner Hall in Brighton—a theatre with a stripped-back stage setting gave us the flexibility to dream big while keeping it simple.
From the gritty chaos of a battlefield to the quiet comforts of a family home, every transformation happened within the same barebones environment.
Props & Costumes
Careful consideration went into which items would signal each location to the audience.
Battlefields came to life with smoke machines, chicken wire, a huge bucketful of dirt, and some old tyres. A battalion of soldiers? Represented by life-sized cardboard cutouts. The regiment’s uniforms? We carefully researched and sourced genuine uniforms from the Crawley Reservists, consulting them on the minutiae of exactly how they should be worn.
Even the family home was conjured through carefully selected items, borrowed, donated, or sourced from a local charity shop. Every element was intentional, allowing us to build vivid, evocative scenes while keeping the set simple and the message clear.
Script
The film’s script, crafted by our Creative Director, took the form of a poignant internal monologue—a poetic voiceover that gave life to the thoughts and emotions of our protagonist.
Casting
Our main character had to do something extraordinary: silently carry the emotional weight of the entire piece. After reviewing dozens of self-tapes, Alex Crockford captured our hearts with his ability to convey strength, vulnerability, and the unmistakable poise of a soldier.
Casting his family was equally important. We found actors who shared a visual similarity to play his children at different stages of life, ensuring the story felt authentic and seamless.
Filming
Over three focused days in March 2023, we brought the story to life, starting at the end and working backwards to make the best use of time. We asked Alex to arrive on day 1 of filming with a beard, which we gradually removed so that he was clean shaven at the beginning of the film.
One technical challenge was keeping our protagonist precisely positioned in every scene. A simple acetate overlay on the monitor ensured every shot aligned perfectly, maintaining the visual continuity of his unchanging presence amid the shifting world around him.
The rework
During production, SSAFA realised the depth of the advert’s potential and decided to evolve it into a new full-scale marketing campaign - ‘Requesting Backup’ - that would launch it to a wider audience.
We worked together to integrate the charity’s refreshed brand identity and the campaign tagline, so that the film would work within the context of the new campaign. We also added glitchy visual effects and the radio, with static interference, to the soundtrack of the social media cuts.
The film has become the centrepiece of a fully-integrated brand campaign on the charity’s channels and is being tested in a handful of regions on railway platforms, radio stations and multiple digital spots, with a view to being rolled out nationally.
The result? A vibrant, evocative campaign that captures the essence of SSAFA’s mission with heart, humanity, and a lasting impression. It’s a story of resilience and we’re proud to have brought it to life.
Output
The output for the project was 26 deliverables in total, which will be used for different applications across the campaign, including:
- 1 x hero film – 16:9 (with English and Scottish voicing)
- 2 x 30 second social edit – 16:9 / 1:1 / 9:16 (with English and Scottish voicing)
- 2 x 15 second social edit, 16:9 / 1:1 / 9:16 (with English and Scottish voicing)
Credits
Creative Director and Scriptwriter – Dan Mellor
Senior Producer – Tom Windsor
Design Director – Mark Allin
Runner – Gabs Morrissey
DoP – Ben Liddell
Camera – Sam Cordell
Editor – Vasil Dzhagalov
Edit support – Kazz Thompson and Dan Mellor
Hair and make-up – Annelie Byström-Turner
Actors – Alex Crockford, Catherine Douglas-Holm, David Abecassis, Eric Abecassis, Wendy Simeon, Chris Agha