Behind the Scenes on New BBH Refuge Campaign

The new campaign for Refuge, which was released earlier today, is a brilliant, initially sad but ultimately heartwarming tale of how the domestic violence charity, Refuge, is able to help women who have suffered abuse. 

The campaign takes the form of a music video for rising musical star Frances's new track, Grow. The serendipitous partnership, the difficult budget and production time and the hopes for the campaign's impact are all laid out below as we talk to BBH creative directors George Hackforth-Jones and Jack Smedley, Le Cube exec producer Gustavo Karam and Refuge's director of communications Lisa King.

Where did the idea for this campaign come from?

Hackforth-Jones: We never have any money on Refuge so we have to be creative with how we get an awareness message out there. We’ve wanted to do a music video for a while as it’s a great way of getting mass awareness without paying for media, the problem was finding the right artist, the right song, and then convincing them to do it.

Charity campaigns are often very powerful but also often use shock tactics to get their message across; did you purposely want to avoid this approach?

Smedley: Shock tactics can be very effective and we’ve used them in the past, but domestic violence can take many forms. After speaking to survivors, including Melanie [Clarke, Refuge client], we decided to do something positive with this campaign, because no matter how bad it gets, the charity can see what you’re going through. There is hope, life can get better. 

King: Refuge has worked with BBH for over five years and during this period we have undertaken a number of impactful campaigns. In an era where shock tactics are increasingly used, BBH has developed and evolved Refuge’s campaigning work. The creative team at BBH is passionate about Refuge’s work and encourages the charity to look at the issue of domestic violence through a different lens. Our more recent campaigns have aligned with carefully selected individuals with whom we can find a personal connection, or a shared message. The end results are very powerful.

How did Frances become involved and how receptive was she to the idea of the campaign?

Hackforth-Jones: That was kind of a happy accident. Jack and I were lucky enough to be sent to SXSW last year and while we were there “working” I stumbled into a bar, heard Frances playing Grow and in a moment of serendipity befitting a John Cusack rom-com knew instantly that this was the artist we’d been looking for.

We’d been “working” quite hard that evening and I was a bit over excited so charged backstage and started slurring something about advertising and domestic violence at her. It’s a miracle she ever spoke to us again. When we got back to London the amazing Julz [Baldwin, head of music] at Black Sheep Music got in touch with Universal and began the formal process of apologising for my behaviour.

Was animation always the plan for this?

Smedley: We wanted to do something that didn’t feel like a domestic violence ad and felt more like a music video so we might catch her fans off-guard. Using animation meant we could bring a heartbreaking story to life in a sensitive and hopefully heartwarming way. One of our BBH Barn [intern program] teams (now hired!), Lance and Joe, wrote a script about an invisible woman, and our producer, Sarah [Finnigan-Walsh], found Le Cube, an amazing animation collective in Argentina. Once we saw their treatment we knew this could work.

What did you think when BBH first came to you with the idea and script for the project?

King: In this country, today, one in four women experience domestic violence at some time in their lives; two women die at the hands of a current or former partner every week. Domestic violence is the biggest social issue affecting women and children in this country. Yet many women still do not know what domestic violence is, nor that there is support available. Refuge’s primary communications objective is to raise awareness of the issue and its services so women can reach out to access support. Our communications work is a life-saving service in its own right.

The Refuge Frances Grow animation offers a wonderful opportunity to achieve our communications aims. We were delighted to have the chance to partner with Frances, Universal and the amazing animation team, Le Cube. We have no doubt the partnership will be a wonderful recipe for success.

Karam: Not To Scale sent us a brief from BBH London to create a music video for British singer-songwriter Frances, in partnership with Refuge and Universal Music UK. We thought it was a beautiful project but that it would be impossible to make it happen due to the budget and the timing. However, the cause and the brief touched us so deeply that we forced ourselves to find a creative solution.

Where did you take your inspiration from regarding the design and storytelling?

Karam: We aren’t British, so our whole image of the London mood was created by our visits to the city and from movies. We tried to create a portrait of this within our designs. Beautiful places, a particular colour palette with lots of browns and reds, very well-dressed people and, of course, shit weather.

It’s also an issue and charity that is close to our hearts so we wanted to portray that notion of being trapped in time, the vicious cycles, the low self-esteem and of course that feeling of being completely invisible as sensitively as possible.

How long has the process been from start to finish?

Hackforth-Jones: A year, quite literally to the day. We supplied the film to Vevo exactly a year after I accosted Frances in that club which is kind of nice. I don’t think the animators have slept for four months.

What was the most difficult part of the process for you?

Hackforth-Jones: It wasn’t really us that had to deal with it, but figuring out how to do four minutes of animation with next to no budget and very little time was a struggle. The guys at Le Cube were so inventive and passionate though. Part of their treatment involved finding a technique that wasn’t just beautiful, but also practical, and they were given phenomenal support by the team at Not To Scale.

Karam: Initially, it was the budget. Then, it was the short schedule. After overcoming both issues, the fact that so many people were involved in the project (BBH/Universal/Refuge/Frances/Melanie) made it complicated to deal with.

There was a lot of back and forth; it was, perhaps, the video clip or charity project with the highest amount of changes during the process we’ve experienced. Also, as the animation is based on cycles, every change had a domino effect on the other scenes and we had to adjust the sync of music and image for the whole animation. It was a real production challenge.

And the most rewarding?

Hackforth-Jones: I’m hoping it’s yet to come, because with a bit of luck this will get a lot of awareness and help a lot of people. But the whole process has been fun, and a karmic tonic to flogging fried chicken for a living.

Getting this whole project off the ground; conceiving it, financing it, selling it in, and then lovingly crafting it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Everyone who’s touched this job has gone out of their way to help, we’ve pulled favours all over the place; from Jack’s mate whose bathroom we shot Melanie in, to Frances and her team, to Clay Kaytis, a Hollywood director and former head of animation at Disney, who consulted throughout for free.

To see all those people work together, for such a good cause, is really special and something we’re incredibly grateful for.

Karam: The biggest reward is yet to come, it will be when we hear the stories of how our animation has helped more victims come forward and seek help. We hope that the animation that we’ve created can get people to not only reflect on the issues but also have a positive effect for the women and children in need and raise awareness of Refuge.

What represents success for Refuge when a campaign such as this is released?

King: The objective of the Refuge Frances Grow campaign is to reach women experiencing domestic violence and offer them support. The carefully crafted end line ‘When the world can’t see what you’re going through, Refuge can’ is the core message running throughout the animation. We hope that anyone who watches the video will share and signpost to it – we want as many people as possible to find out about Refuge’s work. 

By driving visits to refuge.org.uk people can access information about what domestic violence is, what the warning signs are and as well as how to access support. Our key measurements will be how many times the video is watched and also how many times key website pages are visited. With so many women experiencing domestic violence in this country today, women just like Melanie who is featured in the animation, it really is no exaggeration to say that this campaign will save and change lives.