Thames Valley Violence Prevention Partnership
Stay True To You
An eye-catching animation as the centrepiece for a campaign to help youth workers have meaningful conversations about violence
Our role in the Stay True To You campaign gave us the opportunity to take our work in an exciting direction. Leading behavioural change communications agency, Claremont, invited us to create an animation as part of the ‘Stay True To You’ campaign it delivered for Thames Valley Violence Prevention Partnership. It was launched to coincide with Knife Crime Awareness Week 2024 which encourages young people to stay safe, away from violence and knife crime.
The brief
Stay True To You is a pioneering communications programme. It was created based on insights gathered during extensive research with practitioners and a series of focus groups and creative workshops with young people, hosted by Claremont. The workshops unlocked understanding of how to get messages to land with young people, what makes them stop and take notice, and how they prefer to be spoken to.
Insights about how young people feel about violence, what they respond to and the type of content that appeals to them were channelled into the creation of the programme’s content, which includes a raft of free, practical materials for individuals working with young people. The goal was to help the individuals that young people already believe in to have positive and meaningful conversations around trusting instincts, looking after each other and staying out of harm’s way.
This animation would be a visual articulation of the Stay True To You insights and approach.
Thames Valley Violence Prevention Unit planned to use it for Youth Practitioner workshops and training. It was to feature on the campaign website - staytruetoyou.co.uk which provides advice, resources and signposting to support and services. The animation’s main task would be to communicate to those working with young people how to connect with them on the topic of violence, and help empower them to stay safe.
The approach
In terms of the creative direction, big bold and clear visuals were the order of the day. There was a campaign brand look already developed for the campaign, so our challenge was to bring that to life with motion but balance that with the need for the piece to be totally accessible. We used elegant colour gradients and characterful graphic flourishes to augment the kinetic typography which carries the viewer through with engaging momentum.
We developed the script based on the discoveries from the workshops.
For authenticity we wanted a young person with their own platform to give voice to the piece, so we cast a local 19-year-old, Saffron Robin as its narrator. Saffron was from the local area and as a young person who had grown up in care had real-life experience of some of the vulnerabilities and risks young people face growing up today. Her passion for performing arts saw her volunteer to participate, gaining a great experience and hopefully a step towards something more.
Client feedback
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Morever’s team, who brought their creativity and professionalism to the project, able to work to the tight timescales for delivery.
“As with many campaigns, that initial launch content is so vital to get right. We had incredible feedback from a wide range of partners who felt it absolutely captured both the problem and our shared solution.
“That we were able to create an opportunity too for an aspiring artist - Saffron Robin - from our local area to be involved reflects on Morever’s flexibility and desire to work with the client all the way. Saffron’s inclusion has added real credibility to the piece, strengthening the connection with our audience and adding to the social value of the whole project.”
Tim Wiseman
Thames Valley Violence Prevention Partnership
Credits
Senior Producer: Tom Windsor
Creative Director: Dan Mellor
Animator: Brigitte Rose
Scriptwriter: Daniel England
Edit assistant: Kazz Thompson
Voiceover artist: Saffron Robin