Aims and ambitions: Using comms to help reduce knife possession amongst teens is a priority for the Home Office. A workshop with 18 teens with experience of knife crime led to our anti knife brand: It Doesn’t Have to Happen. We learned that young people don’t think through the consequences of carrying a knife – we needed to make them real. We also learned that they jump at positive alternatives to knives. Our aim was to use these insights to encourage them to think twice about carrying a knife.

Knife Cut Out Solution: We decided to create ambient actual size knife ‘cut outs’ that where put on the ground. They were made to look so real people were tricked into picking them up. When they did, they read the hard-hitting message that if you pick up a knife you can get 4 years in prison. Location/scale: We placed the ‘fake knife flyers’ in the specific areas that the young people who carry knives hung out. The result was a message that made them literally stop in their tracks. It was such a success that young campaigners who have had direct experience of the dangers of Knife crime volunteered to hand out the ‘fake knife’ flyers, targeting areas they knew their peers hung out.Chicken Box Solution: To create advertising that got into the heart of where the young people who carry knives hang out. We printed our the hard-hitting message that if you carry a knife you can get 4 years in Prison on the Chicken boxes. Location/scale: Chicken shops in areas where there are the most reported cases of Knife Crime. This resulted in young people taking the time to fully understand the harsh realities of prison if you carry a knife.

IPSOS Mori tracking across the campaign has demonstrated positive shifts in awareness and attitudes.

14% increase (from 23% to 37%) in spontaneous awareness from August ’08 – Nov ‘09.?

12% increase (from 59% to 71%) in agreement with the statement ‘These ads would make me/other young people less likely to carry a knife’ (Feb – Nov ‘09) Significant increase (4% - from 81% to 85%) in agreement with the statement ‘They make me more aware of the risks of carrying knives’ (Aug ’08 – Nov ‘09) 5% increase (from 48% to 53%in numbers of young people (Feb ’08 – Nov ‘09) who agree that if asked they would speak highly of the ‘It Doesn’t Have to Happen’ campaign.