The challenge
The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) asked us to develop a campaign for digital display and social media advertising. This campaign was to promote their Trusted Research programme, and encourage academics to understand the risks of international collaboration. NPSA’s current communications lacked effectiveness, so we knew a fresh approach was needed to reach a difficult audience. Because of the pressures of academic competition, academics tend to be interested primarily in opportunities to further their career, and are largely unmotivated by national security concerns. This campaign needed to raise awareness and prompt behavioural change at the same time.
Our solution
We wanted to move away from a traditional government-styled approach, to create something memorable, while also avoiding scaremongering. Our ‘pride and joy’ concept asked academics to consider their research as something precious that should be taken care of. With a playful tone and a message of positive reinforcement, we aimed to motivate our audience by creating identification with the pride they have in their work. We used a phased messaging approach to create a general awareness of Trusted Research and international collaboration risks, before speaking about specific kinds of threats, and then the benefits of adopting Trusted Research principles.
