Cleverly executed and written, this D&AD award-winning campaign brought history closer to our lives, so it’s no surprise the coveted D&AD handed a pencil to this Armistice 100 campaign in the “Writing for Design” category.
Texts From The Trenches is a print and social media campaign shared across Twitter and Instagram. The campaign presents the letters WW1 Soldiers sent to their loved ones in a very different way – via text messages.
The presentation of these century-old letters in a new world way is in behavioural science terms what we call, Framing.
Framing: “How something is framed affects your perception of it.”
Framing the visual
When you have letters that are over 100 years old framed as text messages, not only does the context of the messages read more engaging, but they are easier for you to attach you own emotions to. Why? Because we relate to a text more than a letter. We get text messages from our loved ones every day, so this campaign is very much in our world.
This is a prime example of framing and a great way of highlighting the feelings of the people 100 years ago today.
Framing the tone of voice
In the form of a text message the tone of these notes is unfamiliar to how we text today. From the beginning using “Dear…” to the end “With love from..” this isn’t immediately familiar to how we construct text messages today. When we compare it to “text speak” where we omit letters, use numbers as words and include emojis, these messages omit nothing, making them longer and more emotive because they sound like they have been written by a human being.
Applying behavioural science to your marketing
This campaign uses framing in a specific way to drive emotion that’s perfect for the audience and subject. But there are many other behavioural science theories that can do the same. Each can be applied to marketing to supercharge the creative communication and drive effectiveness.
Our latest report outlines how you can start applying behavioural science to marketing today.
Download your free copy by clicking here
By Phil Monks
Deputy Creative Director