Fold7 brings real stories to Guide Dogs campaign

The work focuses on the personal milestones that can follow when people overcome barriers associated with vision impairment

Guide Dogs has launched an integrated campaign developed by Fold7 to highlight how its services support people living with sight loss in achieving greater independence and confidence. The work focuses on the personal milestones that can follow when people overcome barriers associated with vision impairment.

The campaign centres on the idea that everyone understands the satisfaction of mastering a skill or overcoming an obstacle for the first time. For people living with sight loss, these moments can represent significant achievements, from travelling independently to returning to familiar activities.

Fold7 brings real experiences to campaign

At the centre of the campaign is a two-minute hero film, First Steps, directed by BAFTA-winning director Tom Green at Stink UK and voiced by Maxine Peake. Green worked with real Guide Dogs service users rather than actors to capture their experiences.

The film features people of different ages and backgrounds at various stages of sight loss. It follows a teenager travelling to school with friends for the first time after losing their sight, a football fan returning to the stands with his guide dog and a toddler learning to use her cane.

Guide Dogs campaign focuses on personal milestones

Dave Billing, Executive Creative Director at Fold7: "Sighted society is too often ignorant of the challenges of living with sight loss, or aware of the amazing stories of people with vision impairment overcoming those challenges, every day. Tom Green was the perfect director to tell those stories, by working with real people with sight loss rather than actors and gently drawing out their experiences to make the film carry real emotional weight and truth. It's a piece of work with real heart, that I hope makes people more aware of the realities of sight loss and the incredible work that Guide Dogs does."

The campaign runs across print, social and radio. The social work, Behind Every First, explores the stories behind the film's vignettes, focusing on the relationship between Guide Dogs service users and the charity's specialists. Radio executions feature people with vision impairment leaving voice notes for Guide Dogs team members who have supported them.

Fold7 develops Guide Dogs visual identity

Fold7Design, the design studio within Fold7, has also expanded Guide Dogs' visual identity for communications. The work includes a bespoke font developed with vision impairment considerations in mind.

The campaign introduces Life Unleashed, a long-term creative platform designed to provide a consistent expression for Guide Dogs' communications and support audience engagement.

Guide Dogs positions mission around independence

Terry McGrath, Chief Fundraising and Marketing Officer, Guide Dogs: "Life Unleashed represents a shift in how we want people to understand Guide Dogs' mission; it's about removing the barriers that stand in the way of people living the life they choose. This first campaign from our new creative platform reframes perceptions and repositions Guide Dogs as the dynamic, forward-thinking organisation we are today and will be in the future."

The campaign launched on August 28 and will run through the end of September. Fold7 has also developed legacy advertising, which will continue through October.

www.guidedogs.org.uk

www.fold7.com

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