News & Insight

3rd November 2015

The Power of a Filmic Case for Support

The University of Cambridge recently launched their £2bn fundraising campaign, “Dear World … Yours, Cambridge”. It was a remarkable feat of communication. Blue-tinted events sprung up around the city. Fire-writing shone across the river: “Dear World … Yours, Cambridge”, it read. And the city rippled in posters and banners. The Campaign was launched, and the city knew about it.

But it was the Campaign film that really did the talking to people around the world. It was a wonderful piece of communication. It centres on the Campaign’s key message – dreamt up by Johnson Banks (http://johnsonbanks.co.uk/) – that this is “Cambridge’s letter to the world”. It demonstrated Cambridge’s prior achievements, and what it hopes to achieve.

The strength of film is that it stitches together different media. It can say more than a static picture, an isolated voice-over, or a ream of text. In fact, it combines these. But with the addition of inspirational music, multiple personalities, and a host of moving visuals. The Cambridge film packs together for an informative and effective experience – inspiring, engaging and with credibility. A case for support should be all of these. Film can convey extra. Could you use it more?

The Cambridge Campaign and film can be viewed here: https://www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk