our workNational Literacy Trust / raising awareness of the cost of literacy crisis
The UK’s cost of living crisis has also triggered a cost of literacy crisis – and children from disadvantaged families are bearing the brunt. We helped the National Literacy Trust shine a spotlight on the impact of rising prices on literacy, dialling up the volume on an important conversation.
It’s always about the positive impact…
304 million potential audience reach
Picked up by 72 media outlets
including the BBC, Guardian and Sky News
61 interviews across regional radio and TV stations
The National Literacy Trust asked us to develop a campaign to celebrate 30 years of supporting literacy in the UK. However, when we started our Discovery and learned of the steep fall in literacy levels since the covid pandemic, that was accelerating as prices rose, a celebration didn’t feel appropriate.
So we recommended putting a pin in the birthday campaign, and instead using their planned media push in a more timely and topical way.
Literacy shouldn’t be a luxury
Parents working flat out just to keep the lights on and bellies full have neither time nor money spare to invest in their kids. Insecure housing and the rising cost of basic things like uniform and transport means the number of children unable to attend school in a year has doubled, and the number of children that don’t own even one book is rising.
The scale of the crisis
A shocking one in five 5-to-8 year olds don’t own a single book
In 2023, over 185,000 5-year olds in England started school without the communication and language skills they need to thrive
Low literacy has lifelong consequences, and nine children in every single reception classroom are already falling behind
Approximately 40% of children from disadvantaged communities now leave primary school with unacceptably low levels of literacy
Low literacy means children are much more likely to struggle with their GCSEs, and more likely to end up unemployed by their 30s
It’s estimated that the disadvantage gap in early literacy skills is costing England over £800 million every year
All of this affects not just a child’s confidence and learning – it puts a cap on their life chances. Low literacy puts up a barrier between the individual, and opportunity.
And so the Cost of Literacy Crisis campaign was borne.
We showed images of children with literacy – in the form of a graphic book panel – obscuring most of their faces, forming a very literal barrier between them and the world.
Read all about it
This powerful campaign told the full scope of the problem, in a language people could understand – showing the link between poverty and poor literacy.
The campaign was communicated through owned and organic channels, amplified through partnerships and influencer outreach and was the PR hook for their Early Years launch.
It was picked up by 72 media outlets – including Yahoo, The Guardian, The Independent, Sky News and wide uptake across the BBC’s broadcast network – achieving a potential audience reach of 304 million, and facilitating 61 interviews across regional radio and TV stations.
Behind the scenes
To create the campaign we needed to get creative with the budget – so we drafted in lots of mini Storycatchers to model for photography and video. And it turned into the best day at work ever.
