The 60s television advert in English
There is a shortage of prospective adopters who consider adopting children over 3 years old, boys, sibling groups and children with complex behavioural and physical needs, due to preconceptions about them being difficult and that babies and toddlers are easier/quicker to bond with.
Working closely with National Adoption Service (NAS) as well as with findings from focus groups and wider insight, what became clear is that what adopters are truly longing for are the moments spent together.
Our concept of "Choose Family" put the focus on creating a family over 'choosing a child'.
My central concept for the campaign came from a real-life adoption story, where an adopter had shared that the child they had newly adopted would wear multiple layers of their clothing around the house as they were so used to being moved around that they wanted to have everything 'ready to go'. It took several months for them to feel settled enough to progress through this.
The television ad at the centre of the campaign would enhance the authenticity of this story by using video rather than animation, be produced in both English and Welsh, and be adaptable enough to work across different social media platforms too.
The campaign was a massive success - enquiries to NAS increased by 25% in the weeks following the airing of the TV ad, and the campaign went on to win more than 10 national awards, including 2 Drum Roses - a Silver and a Gold.
Also, though probably a coincidence, John Lewis' Christmas ad used a very similar theme and framing the following year!
