Independent creative agency The Public House has launched a national fundraising campaign across print, social, digital, and radio for Barnardos Ireland. Barnardos work on behalf of vulnerable children and their families all over Ireland. The charity’s aervices are particularly needed over the Christmas holidays, more so in a year when food poverty, heat poverty, electricity bills and homelessness are all on the rise.
The campaign’s strategic approach came from a belief that childhood lasts a lifetime. While the charity category focuses on fulfilling immediate needs with crisis appeals, Barnardos take a wider approach, better equipping children and their families for the rest of their lives. They believe that what happens to us in childhood impacts the rest of our lives, this is when resilience is formed and bounce-back ability created.
‘Childhood memories – good or bad – are even stronger at Christmas’
The creative strategy wanted to show magical Christmas scenes that all children would experience in an ideal world, and the stark reality now faced by many families in Ireland. A snow globe was found to be the best vehicle to encase the great metaphor of Barnardos providing a safe space. Polish children’s illustrator, Martyna Nejman, brought the ideas to life. Her style evokes a playful nostalgia usually associated with bedtime stories.
On closer inspection, there’s a deeper, darker side. The imagery inside each snow globe is filled with warm hues of reds and gold to create a sense of joy, juxtaposed by cold blues outside. Paul Kinsella, art director, The Public House, said that at no point does the fact that 90,000 children in Ireland live in poverty stop shocking us. Our campaign reflects the hope donations will give vulnerable children and their families this Christmas.
