The financial collapse of 2009, sanctions on social welfare payments and a disconnected government had led to the vilification of those at the lower end of the social spectrum. The number of UK food banks increased by 14,000 with an estimated 13.5m officially living in poverty. The months prior to the film’s launch saw a peak in negative social media content on ‘government, politics and welfare’, and 80 official petitions pleaded with the government to change the social welfare system.

Through social media listening, we identified that public frustration was growing and awareness of social welfare issues was increasing. Our creative idea was to use the tactics of a political movement to feed our audiences with well-rounded information so that they could see the injustices of a flawed system, engage with the core message of the film and feel empowered to express opinion and drive the conversation.

Ahead of the film’s release we engaged political groups to promote the trailer across social media. Combined with advanced screenings for political influencers this ignited the conversation amongst those who cared the most.

We adapted our social media campaign to include a Facebook filter and to ride the wave of interest in real-time, capitalising on current, highly political events.

An integrated partnership with the left-leaning Daily Mirror invited 10,000 readers to free screenings to capture emotional reactions. This was turned into content and amplified locally and nationally.

The film’s protagonist was given his own column to shine a light on the real effects of the current system, and launch day saw a front-page takeover, complete with a graffitied masthead (a Mirror first).

Unprecedented editorial support from the Mirror and their regional titles took on its own momentum, engaging the readership and turning a film launch into a social movement.

The campaign was a box office hit, over doubling its projected revenue. Media was 1.6 times more effective than average. The film broadened its audience beyond London & South East with 46% of ticket sales from northern regions.

A campaign hit!

More than 1.1m people engaged with the campaign on social media and over 210k posts were shared on Twitter and Facebook.

Over 16,100 people applied the Facebook profile filter, and the film remained a social media hot topic for 7 months.

The Mirror content generated over 20k organic shares, and 1/3 of readers saying the campaign completely changed their opinion on social welfare.

Most importantly, it started a conversation for change.

The theme of the film entered mainstream public consciousness. Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party leader, raised the film in Parliament, urging PM Theresa May to watch it to understand the ‘institutionalised barbarity’ of the UK’s benefits system.

The launch for I, Daniel Blake not only made the film a tremendous success at the box office, it changed the nature of political discourse and achieved director, Ken Loach’s, goal of starting a national conversation about social mobility and welfare. The campaign eschewed the traditional film launch in favour of an innovative approach to provide information, drive conversation and steadily reach and build new audiences. Integrating national print and online titles with social media insight and activity, the campaign helped I, Daniel Blake enter the public consciousness and become a resonant social and political touchstone for modern Britain.

To start a nationwide debate on social change we needed to broaden the target audience from the traditional, upmarket independent film audience based in London and the South East. We aimed to reach more working class British people all over the country who were closer to the subject matter, and more politically-active audiences who would promote and discuss the film’s issues.

The campaign required trusted local and national media partners who had the ability to fuel conversation, give information to mainstream audiences about why the social welfare system was failing people and help generate a passion for positive change.

Using data-informed social audience targeting we also designed a long-term social media strategy to frame the film’s themes in the climate of increasing politicisation across the UK (EU referendum, US elections, doctors’ strike). We created bespoke audiences comprising trade unions and the left-wing Labour Party to reach highly-politicised, engaged influencers.

A film with social purpose requires communications with social purpose. I, Daniel Blake is a British independent drama film, which tells the story of a working-class man whose world spirals into desperation when he is consistently let down by the social welfare system. It shines a light on a neglected, crumbling system that has failed real human beings. The launch was not just about selling cinema tickets, it was about raising awareness and generating debate with the hope of bringing real societal change. An issue-based, independent film would naturally attract a more niche audience but to kickstart the debate the campaign would need to get the film’s message to wider and more politically-active audiences and people who could relate to Daniel Blake’s circumstances.

The objective was to equip them with the information to take action and to encourage them to propel the film’s subject matter into the national public consciousness.