This week's selections in video communications range from pizza and celebrations to domestic violence and discrimination. For more from #CommunicateLens, follow @Communicatemag on Twitter.

Cybersmile

The Cybersmile Foundation has released a multichannel campaign to raise awareness of how online comments and conversations, even when using humour, can have an unexpected real life impact. With the support of Area 23, the Cybersmile Foundation created the ‘Think Twice Before You Type’ video campaign to encourage people to be more mindful online.

The initiative was launched to coincide with ‘Safer Internet Day’ on 9 February. Cybersmile and Area 23 worked with award winning photographer Ale Burset to depict people’s dejected faces overlaid with happy emoji makeup. The striking images capture the difference between how people portray their feelings and their honest feelings hiding beneath. The 20-second video uses digital text and powerful dark images with flashes of yellow to capture the audience attention and convey the severity and loneliness of online abuse. Laura Lewandowski, chief policy officer of the Cybersmile Foundation says, “Our ‘Think Twice Before You Type’ campaign is a powerful reminder of why we need to be mindful of the way we communicate online.” Standalone images will be shared across Cybersmile’s official social channels, alongside the video, to reach an audience of over 1.3 million.

Face à L’Inceste

The ‘Two Monsters in My Story’ campaign was created by Face à L’Inceste, the first French organisation to fight against incest in partnership with Publicis Conseil. The campaign calls for French citizens to sign a petition calling for a change in the law that states child victims of sexual abuse must prove they did not consent in front of a court of law. The campaign uses animated imagery to show the impact of abuse through the eyes of a child. The animation was created by French agency Jungler and painter, Jackson Edward Joyce. The visual imagery and use of music creates a haunting video that demands the audience’s attention. Through the story of one child’s recurring nightmares, the viewer is confronted with the effect that reliving the experience in a court of law has on child victims.

Isabelle Aubry, president of Face à l’Inceste, says, “It sends a symbolic message: children must protect themselves; they can’t rely on the law. This is absolutely appalling, and we have been fighting against this legal aberration for 20 years.” The video will be shared on French television channels and online platforms. The media content was created by non-profit Publicis Media agency, Starcom, and directs viewers of the short film to sign the petition.

My Helsinki

‘Helsinki Freedom’ is a video series consisting of five short episodes showcasing the beauty and freedom of Helsinki in an effort to encourage international talent to relocate. The short documentary style series launched on Instagram in an effort to raise global awareness attract international talent and ensure functionality of the future Finnish labour market. To identify the most valuable themes, a survey was conducted in eight international cities. The results showed respondents ranked safety, work-life balance, access to nature and equality as the most important considerations when relocating.

The creative effort uses real examples to tell five visual stories of people that relocated to Helsinki, as they explain what attracted them to the city and what made them stay. The campaign moves away from previous tactics using statistics and numbers, instead focusing on emotionally provocative human stories. The videos were created by a selection of award-winning directors with different backgrounds to share five unique stories. Anu Syrmä, the marketing director of Helsinki Marketing says, “The directors are all from different backgrounds, each of them gave their own unique point of view in presenting Helsinki’s freedoms.” The documentaries have been promoted and targeted to prospective talent in Berlin, London, San Francisco, New York and Tokyo. The five episodes were streamed on the @myhelsinki Instagram account where it reached around three million people. The campaign will continue to be circulated throughout 2021.

Pantene

Pantene UK launched the emotive short film as part of the ‘My Hair Won’t Be Silenced’ campaign in partnership with Black Minds Matter and Project Embrace. The campaign works to end afro hair discrimination and create a more inclusive brand where people of all races feel represented, included and accepted. A new report by Pantene found that 93% of black people in the UK have faced micro-aggressions related to their hair. The powerful video provides a platform for black women to share their personal experiences with hair discrimination and discuss the ways it affected their self confidence.

Pantene has encouraged use of the hashtag #MyHairWontBeSilenced on social media to allow consumers to engage in a wider conversation and increase awareness of hair discrimination. The video points to ‘three ways to help end hair discrimination’ and calls for people to educate themselves, not to touch others’ hair without consent and to be an active ally. The film ends with the women sharing the reasons why they love their hair over clips of them using the Pantene Gold Series, which is designed for relaxed, natural or transitioning hair. Agnes Mwakatuma, founder of Black Minds Matter says, “We hope that ‘My Hair Won’t Be Silenced’ will lead the way and inspire other brands in the haircare industry to take long overdue steps to cater for, and proudly represent the black community.”

Papa Johns

In celebration of lunar new year in China, Papa John’s has worked with London-based creative agency Qumin on a Weibo-based playful animated video. The video aims to strengthen brand growth and connect with the Gen Z audiences on digital media. The slogan ‘Love is the best luck. You are luckiest when you are loved!’ nods to the cultural importance of luck and fortune during lunar new year. The messaging also aligns with Papa John’s brand purpose ‘We love pizza. It brings us together.’

The video begins as a grandfather desperately tries to prepare something special for his granddaughter who is visiting for the holiday. Food is integral to traditional lunar new year celebrations and the video plays on the focus that it should be home cooked, fresh and made with love. After his failed attempts to create a special dish, the grandfather finds Papa John’s where he manages to make the perfect pizza for his family.

The respectful term ‘shifu' meaning ‘master’ is at the heart of this campaign and the belief of taking great pride in creating things with love, echoes through the animation. There are a number of subtle traditional and societal references to make the video culturally relevant and relatable to customers. Recent research found that during lunar new year, top social key words are ‘family,’ ‘parents,’ and ‘grandparents,’ and the video is successfully targeted to be of interest to customers at this time. Jo Blundell, international marketing VP of Papa John’s says, “For Chinese New Year, we would like to change the content and media format to tell a different story. The aim is to create a strong emotional story, leveraging the most important family reunion time to improve our brand equity with the young generation.”