LGBTQ abuse has more than doubled since the COVID-19 lockdown began, and queer charities are struggling to meet demand with the lost income from canceled fundraising events such as Pride.

Inspired by real stories, we show a teen girl’s relationship with her abusive mother during the lockdown. Only at the end do we realise that the girl is trans and is unable to be herself safely at home.

We set-out to raise awareness of the issue, encouraging donations to help LGBT Foundation’s helpline continue supporting people at their point of crisis. With next to no budget for media we planned a very light paid social and digital campaign which was heavily supported by PR coverage and organic shares on social media from influencers. We knew that for this to work the creative would need to work incredibly hard to capture the audience’s attention and hearts to build affinity with the cause.

So far, the campaign has raised enough funds to enable LGBT Foundation’s helpline to answer 400 more hour-long calls to LGBTQ people at crisis point, provide 800 online group sessions for isolated LGBTQ people, or fund 200 assessments of domestic abuse cases.

The work gained over 100k views at launch and 2.1m impressions.

Digital placements of the film were specifically targeted LGBTQ sites with an audience who would be sympathetic to the cause but were not engaged currently. The combination of relevant and emotive creative with strong targeting performed unexpectedly well with the CTR of 2% vs the benchmark of 0.5% and the VTR of 18% vs benchmark of 10% for video over 15”. This is particularly strong given the video is 90”. This was also reflected in LGBT Foundation’s posts on Facebook and Twitter achieving engagement rates 83% higher than their average (Twitter 4.89% vs average of 1.9% and Facebook 17.4% vs average of 11%).

“A masterclass in how to create a campaign on a very sensitive topic”

PR Week, Creative Hit of the Week

“A courageous piece of work which deserves to be shared as widely as possible”

David Reviews, Pick of the Day

“A powerful example of sharing the lived-experiences of LGBT people to drive empathy and awareness.”

Creative Brief, Hot Pick

LGBT Foundation - Locked Down And Out

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