Keep the Door Open
campaign launches and makes headlines
A new campaign created by our creative team, focused on tackling knife crime among young people in West Yorkshire, is now live and has already secured coverage from the BBC and the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Keep the Door Open, delivered with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the Violence Reduction Partnership, uses a powerful music video featuring Leeds artist Nigel Ngwenya to challenge the myth that carrying a knife offers protection, instead highlighting the lasting impact one decision can have on a young person’s future.
Backed by the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, the campaign forms part of a wider strategy to reduce serious violence across the region: “We’ve spent the last year listening to how residents want us to tackle the scourge of serious violence across the region.
“And we’re taking action by launching a unique campaign to empower young people through music to make the right decisions and avoid a life of crime.”
The campaign is grounded in real insight. Our team worked closely with young people across the region, including those with lived experience of knife crime, through a series of workshops to understand the motivations behind knife carrying.
These conversations were critical in shaping the campaign’s ‘false protection’ message, ensuring the creative approach would resonate authentically with its audience.
Using music and storytelling at its core, the campaign is designed to spark conversation and encourage safer choices, brought to life through local talent both on and off screen. Nigel, the artist featured, created a bespoke track for this campaign, with our team shaping the copy, creative and art direction on the shoots.
To mark the launch, members of the team attended the official press event, speaking about the thinking behind the chosen creative and why this approach was key to engaging young people.
Jonny, Head of Creative: “We knew that engaging young people where they spend a significant amount of their time, social media, was going to be key to making this campaign a success.
The visuals needed to stand out on those feeds, and the audio hook needed to stop the doom-scrolling, Nigel’s track gave us exactly that. We wanted the tone to take the campaign away from typical public sector anti-knife crime campaigns of years gone by. It’s bold, it’s bright, it’s full of energy and aspiration, it’s a perfect match for the vibe we took from the young people we engaged at every step of the insight and creative development.”
This has been an incredibly important campaign for us to be part of combining insight, creativity and purpose to support safer communities across West Yorkshire.
Soph, Account Manager who led on the project: “It has been a privilege to work on this campaign, and we are so proud of the end result. It was a pleasure collaborating with such a wonderful team at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, VRP, and Policing and Crime. Working with young people across West Yorkshire was a real highlight, and managing a campaign that hopes to make a difference has been truly meaningful.”