‘Creativity for good’ takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to the Respect the Water campaign. The drowning prevention campaign which began life as a campaign for the RNLI is now the national campaign for members of the National Water Safety Forum. The campaign has helped save over 40 lives in three years.

Born from the insight that 50% of people who drown each year never intended to get wet in the first place, ‘Respect the Water’ warns people about the dangers of Britain’s coastline. It urges people to stop, think and call 999 to help save lives. When someone unexpectedly falls into a body of water, human instinct is to jump in and help, however, this can cause the situation to worsen and result in two resuscitations instead of one.

The Respect the Water campaign aims to neutralise human instinct and equip people with the right actions to take. It aims to create a moment of clarity and calm in the midst of sheer chaos and panic.

The campaign first kicked off in 2017, but on World Drowning Prevention Day 2023 the concept remains as relevant as ever. For Matt Watts, Group Head of Planning at Krow, the success of the life-saving campaign begins with understanding behaviour and facilitating change with creativity.

“It's about understanding what’s the actual behaviour going on, what's the desired behaviour and then really what is stopping that from happening,” explained Watts. For Respect the Water the desired change was to urge people to stop to think and call for help rather than jumping in the water after a friend. “It's only by focusing on that, that we can get to the right answer which sets the framework to be creative in,” says Watts.

The second key ingredient for Watts is emotion. “We have to land emotion to drive behavioural change.” he explains, adding: “If we can make them feel it we can have a bigger impact.” For in such a split moment of panic, an emotional connection has the impact to cut through and make people recall the message. The campaign had to be emotive, disruptive and ultimately something that sticks with audiences.

Creativity for good

Creativity enabled the message to be portrayed in a way that sticks in people's minds but Watts and his team had to be mindful not to let creativity get in the way of the message. Where the executions had to be creative and disruptive enough to stop the endless social media scroll, it was just as important to ensure that the message was delivered in every touch point in its entirety. When it comes to saving lives, burying the message is not the right technique. People had to be told all the information they needed in the most concise, yet striking way possible.

In ‘Make the Right Call’ the team were able to get creative by using two of the same actors fighting themselves to bring to life the idea of fighting your own instincts. In ‘Float to Live’ using creative camera angles to show people struggling in the water uses an abstract but disruptive technique to create a distressing narrative that stops people in their tracks. Watts reinforces that for this campaign disruptive and shocking worked far better than funny.

The creative team also worked with academics to ensure accuracy during every step of the process. This meant that the campaign could use provocative language that was still accurate to create maximum impact. Academics acted as consultants in the process and aided the creative team, helping with strategy and refining the message.

Action beyond awareness

The campaign not only ‘aims to save lives today, but strives to make this less of an issue in the future’ says Watts. Therefore, the team worked with Swim England to ensure that the life-saving ‘floating technique’ is being taught in swimming lessons up and down the UK.

Unlike most purposeful campaigns, ‘Respect the Water’ has a real opportunity to make a difference because the charities have a genuine motivation and right to play in the space. Watts explains: “Any social good campaign must look at the motivation, the cause at the heart that makes people want to engage”.

Brands wanting to engage in similar work must carry authenticity if they wish to avoid any cynicism. While the cost of living crisis may see charities have more struggles fundraising, Watts believes that the community spirit demonstrated in the pandemic is still very much present, just brands need to demonstrate authenticity to encourage people to engage.

Respect the Water has been confirmed to have saved 40 lives to date. Its true impact is likely much larger and its ripple effects will go on to save many more lives in the future. With cause at the heart of the campaign and practical advice embedded in every touch point, Respect the Water shows how communications have the power to literally save lives. A powerful reminder of how the industry has the potential to use its influence for the better.