Electrical Safety First
The emotional stories of firefighters
Brief
Produce a campaign film about the dangers of portable electric heaters that makes a splash.
Challenge
The client gave us access to four firefighters who had first-hand experiences of discovering people caught in fires caused by portable electric heaters. But people on the frontline of public services can sometimes be reluctant to share their feelings.
We knew that for the film to have real impact, we needed it to be emotional – and that meant getting our firefighters to speak from the heart.
Solution
We developed a hard-hitting campaign idea, ‘Don’t be next’, about firefighters’ urgent message for people not to be the next person they find in a fire. But our script was very light touch and flexible, giving the interviewees room to tell their stories.
We went prepared. Eliciting emotional content from interviews involves putting interviewees at ease, asking open-ended questions, and preparing to be surprised. Our firefighters surpassed our expectations. Most were visibly moved as they powerfully recounted their experiences.
Result
The film was a huge success. The campaign attracted nearly blanket coverage, including the BBC News website, The Metro, Independent, Evening Standard, Daily Mail Online, The Sun, the Press Association, ITV online, ITV Lunchtime News Live and more than 170 regional online outlets. It also attracted nearly 60,000 views on Twitter.
We vied with John Lewis and Peter Kay for PR Moment of the week, and the client was so pleased they entered the film in the Charity Film Awards.
It was our first project with Electrical Safety First, and it couldn’t have gone much better.
More than 60,000 views on twitter alone.
