Promotion of research and creation of a social video for Save the Children

The international humanitarian organization Save the Children conducted a research “Behind Closed Doors: Children's Dreams in Institutional Care”. The goal is to amplify the voices of children, including those with disabilities, living in institutional care.

The research was conducted in partnership with the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, the European Disability Forum, the Social Synergy NGO, the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation, the Children and Youth Office “DiYMO” at the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, and the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.

More than 500 children surveyed in two dozen institutions indicated that they often feel lonely, angry, afraid and sad. Most children dream of independent living, creativity and support from their families.

The agency's task was to develop a strategy for promoting this study with key messages, target audiences, and a communications plan. We had to create visuals for social media, write articles for the media, and shoot a social video.

Before the work, the client briefed the UK comms team and introduced them to the communication policy on this topic in compliance with the organization's rules and ethical principles.

The agency developed 10 visuals for social media that highlighted the main messages of the research. To write the articles, we interviewed researchers, NGOs involved, and children raised in institutional facilities. We received written consent from them to publish the information, and gave the finished materials to the client for further pitching to the media.

The entire cycle of work with the video was carried out in partnership with AuRoom Films production. We developed the idea, wrote a synopsis and script, and coordinated it with all stakeholders involved in the research. Our colleagues from AuRoom Films took over the production and post-production of the video — they selected the location, actors, and voices. After that, they organized the shooting and then edited the video.

Since the research is based solely on interviews with children and the main task was to hear their stories, the key idea of the video was to use children's voices. We departed from the classic script with a voiceover. The video is based on stories that children tell themselves. At the same time, it was important not to resort to pity and dramatization, but to highlight fragments of their daily life in boarding schools. We did not impose conclusions on the viewer, but gave them the opportunity to draw them themselves.

During the entire work period, it was important to keep confidentiality, to tell stories not of specific children, but to create collective images.