DEPAUL UK: Struggle to Sleep [video]

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: DEPAUL UK
Agency: PUBLICIS LONDON
Geo: United Kingdom
Art Buyer: Claire Lillis (Publicis London)
Designer: Dave Stansfield (Publicis London)
Head of Operations: Debbie Burke (Publicis London)
Art Buyer: Sarah Clifford (Publicis London)
Agency Executive Producer: Steve McFarlane (Publicis London)
Business Director: Will Arnold-Baker (Publicis London)
Executive Creative Director: Andy Bird (Publicis London)
Head of Art and Design: Andy Breese (Publicis London)
Strategist: Anthony Harris (Publicis London)
Copywriter: Ben Smith (Publicis London)
Art Director: Dan Kennard (Publicis London)
Agency Producer: Ed Page (Publicis London)
Agency Producer: Greg Collier (Publicis London)
Strategist: Louis de La Moriniere (Publicis London)
Photographer: Mark Wesley (Publicis London)
Account Manager: Tom Frogett (Publicis London)
Brief Explanation
Getting young people off the streets.
Depaul Nightstop is a project of the charity Depaul UK. It gets young people aged 16-25 off the streets and into the spare rooms of volunteers for a night or two – supporting them until permanent accommodation is found. The service has been running since 1987 in London and in locations across the UK.
The Brief
Encouraging volunteering by changing preconceptions.
With a 300% rise in demand for Depaul’s services in the past year, the service needed to attract more volunteers with spare rooms. But research shows that 48% of people feel anxious about letting a young homeless person use their home, and 87% say they would not consider it. Despite these fears, volunteers almost never encounter problems and find the experience overwhelmingly positive. We needed to change people’s preconceptions and demonstrate the rewarding reality of becoming a volunteer.
How the final design was conceived
A design solution on the very corners where homeless people sleep.
We went to homelessness hotspots where Depaul was most in need of volunteers, and identified street corners – the very places homeless youths are found. As Nightstop is a charity, and can’t afford paid media sites, our strategy was to approach partners and ask them to donate the space.
We applied a design solution by placing a poster on either side of the corner. The left side addresses the negative preconceptions people have about giving up their spare room to a homeless youth. But when both sides are read together these preconceptions transform, showing the positive reality of becoming a Nightstop volunteer.
The posters were applied in the manner of fly posters, which feel like part of the architecture of our streets. The stark, raw, minimalist design attempts to convey the message in the most direct and emotive way possible.
Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market
Helping young people turn a corner for real.
The campaign achieved significant global coverage. It appeared live on BBC TV News, national radio and on over 70 blogs. In addition, it was trending at number two on the global Reddit homepage with around 4 million views.
We generated 69 million media impressions in the campaign period and around 6 million people directly viewed the work. On a £0 media spend, total earned media value was estimated at £1,589,857.
Depaul’s web traffic increased 600% on the previous week. Most importantly the total number of new volunteer enquiries increased by 6100% on the previous month. If all enquirers become volunteers, it would be equivalent to increasing Nightstop’s London capacity by 50%. Given that volunteers generally offer spare rooms for several years, this step change will help many young people turn a corner for real.