#BeSafeBeSound with Counter Terrorism Policing

Influence Digital partnered with Counter Terrorism Policing to develop a creative, social and OOH campaign to help make live music spaces safer, providing young people clear, memorable and actionable safety advice. Working with music industry partners, we ensured the #BeSafeBeSound campaign reached music-lovers far and wide. 

Our goal was to devise a campaign that connects with young people aged 16 and 24, raising awareness of the threats and overcoming the barriers that stop people from reporting suspicious activity - without evoking fear or panic. We aimed to: 

1. Provide young people with clear and memorable safety advice around the signs of suspicious activity and how to report it
2. Change behaviour within live music environments and normalise reporting suspicious activity
3. Encourage industry-wide endorsement of the #BeSafeBeSound campaign and promote excellence in security-minded communications

Difficult message to communicate – We needed to get the tone and the language right, to be as concise and as relevant as possible. Reaching a younger demographic with a counter terrorism message meant that we had to appeal to them in a way that would encourage openness and not fear. 

How to adapt to live music scenarios – The scenario in which these messages would be seen are generally at live music events when people want to have fun and avoid thinking about serious topics such as terrorism. We had to adapt to the environment and consider all the barriers we could address in the creative. 

How to make people feel reassured – The message needed to avoid causing alarm or panic; rather, we wanted people to be vigilant and ready to act. It was also integral that people knew what to look out for, and how to respond if they see something out of place.

We wanted to normalise reporting suspicious activity and empower live music event-goers to trust their instincts and report. We developed a creative route that was inclusive in its sentiment embracing the togetherness of live music. Through relatable pop-culture style creative and clear and simple messages, we created a suite of assets to be used by Counter Terrorism Policing, police forces and music partners throughout the summer festival period. 

We had a very rigorous creative and messaging process; we used insight on the barriers to reporting paired with music references to inform the creative messaging. The creative was successful due to a mixed methodology: 

1. Bold and colourful aesthetic
2. Visual cues related to live music events (i.e. speakers, crowds and spotlight)
3. Overcoming barriers using music idioms that have a double meaning (i.e. 'Don’t dance around it'). 

The campaign exceeded expectations with endorsements from Glastonbury, Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Reading & Leeds Festivals, and many more. These key partners not only posted the campaign content on their social channels but showed the videos/stills on the main stage of the festivals – giving the message maximum exposure.

To date, the campaign has reached millions of music fans and been supported by over 50 festivals and live music venues.