ABOUT

Brief:

Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) is a British volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering hatred against Jews (antisemitism) throughout the UK and beyond. With cases of antisemitism in the UK rising at an alarming rate* and central London becoming a no-go area for many Jews at the weekend (largely due to the weekly pro-Palestinian marches that followed Hamas’s barbaric terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023), CAA made a decision to organise the UK’s first national ‘March Against Antisemitism’.

With less than one week’s notice, the event was organised by CAA for Sunday 26th November 2023, who immediately approached design, brand and digital agency ‘Creative Clinic’ to assist with the event branding and marketing communications.

The specific requirements of the brief (which had to be turned around within five days) were to design a logo and brand identity for the March, along with a campaign image, press advertising, social media content, banner designs, placard designs and ad-van graphics. The design needed to be bold and striking, hard-hitting and distinctive, emotive and powerful. It needed to focus purely on a message of Britain standing united against antisemitism, shoulder to shoulder with British Jews, rather than being pro-Israel or political. And it needed to be produced very quickly!

* (4,103 instances of anti-Jewish racist hatred were recorded across the UK in 2023 – a 147% rise from the 1,662 antisemitic incidents the previous year, and 81% higher than the previous yearly record of 2,261 incidents, reported in 2021. More than two thirds of the incidents reported last year occurred on or after 7 October 2024, when Hamas perpetrated a barbaric terrorist attack on Israel. – Source: Community Security Trust)


Medium:

• Press adverts in all major national newspapers
• Printed placard designs
• Printed vinyl banners and stage graphics
• Graphics for mobile ad-van
• Campaign graphics for social media


Concept:

The brand design is a fusion of half a ‘Star of David’ (often used as a symbol of Judaism) and a monochrome illustration of half a Union Jack, to represent how Jews living in Britain are integral, integrated and valued members of British society. To avoid political allusions, the logo icon is only ever seen in white, black or grey.

The campaign graphics use a highly contrasting orange colour against grey and black, for impact and to connect back to the occasional use of orange in broader CAA graphics.

Messaging is simple and clear, with statements used such as ‘Shoulder to shoulder with British Jews’, ‘United Kingdom united against antisemitism’, and ‘Zero tolerance for antisemites’.

The core campaign illustration used in advertising and social media ahead of the March, depicts crowds of people gathering in the street carrying a variety of ‘Star of David’ placards and British flags, standing right in front of London landmarks. This is to convey a sense of scale and a united front, in order to galvanise support for, and participation in, the March that was due to take place just days after the image was first published and shared.


Execution:

The core campaign illustration was produced in-house using a combination of Dall-E AI software plus Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. All other graphics were produced in-house using Adobe Indesign, Photoshop and Illustrator.

We received our brief on Tuesday 21st November and produced the concept and branding the same day. Campaign graphics were created on Wednesday 22nd November, which included supplying artwork for full page national newspapers publishing the next day. On Thursday 23rd November, the campaign advert appeared in every single major national newspaper, supported by a launch on social media. Placards and vinyl banners were designed and printed within three days and delivered ready for the March, which took place in Central London from 1.30pm on Sunday 26th November.


Results:

March Against Antisemitism was considered an incredible success, far surpassing the expectations of its organisers.

Over 106,000 people participated in the peaceful March and concluding rally outside the Houses of Parliament, both Jewish and not Jewish. This is exceptional as it represents the single largest gathering against antisemitism in a century – the largest rally of its kind since the historic ‘Battle of Cable Street’ in 1936.

Legions of public figures and social media influencers attended and helped get the message out to millions of people. This included former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and numerous other MPs; Chief Rabbi Sir Efraim Mirvis and other religious leaders; peers including Lord Austin; actors Eddie Marsan, Dame Maureen Lipman, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Felicity Kendall; broadcasters Robert Rinder, Julia Hartley-Brewer, Vanessa Feltz and Trevor Phillips; historian Simon Sebag Montefiore; and many more.

There was significant media coverage in major national newspapers (including front page of The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express and The I) and on television and radio.

Not only were many thousands of people exposed to the March Against Antisemitism campaign messaging and graphics before the event, which resulted in huge attendance and participation, but as a result of the extensive exposure that followed, millions of people became aware of the campaign. This vastly amplified awareness of the organising charity CAA and its mission to expose and counter antisemitism, and brought global attention to the shocking rise in antisemitic incidents across the UK – which makes this a highly effective campaign for social good.


Project Credit:

Designed by Creative Clinic in collaboration with Campaign Against Antisemitism