Royal Navy: ‘A Celebration of Duty’

Independent creative agency Hijinks Collective has worked with the Royal Navy to create ‘A Celebration of Duty’ – a new campaign to honour Royal Navy personnel and veterans who, through their sense of duty, give back to their local community every single day.

The new campaign reinforces the Royal Navy as a “force for good” and aims to connect a younger generation with it by platforming its work. Targeting a Gen Z and regional audience, it breaks one week after Remembrance Sunday, a national opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life, particularly in the Military.

To create the film, Hijinks worked hand in hand with the Royal Navy’s communications team, including its Photography and Video Unit (known as the Phots) and its graphics and campaigns teams. Working together since June on the project, they wrote, directed and edited the films using Hijinks’ unique ‘Creative Bubble’ method which involved them working together as one team.

The film features personal stories from seven Royal Navy personnel and veterans. One of those featured is Reservist Lieutenant Napper, who is also a research fellow, marine conservationist and National Geographic explorer and helped to influence the ban of microbeads in cosmetics with the aim of cleaning up our oceans from plastic pollution.

Also featured is a former Marine Captain, now known by his acting name Tip Cullen, who served in the Royal Marines for 30 years and now works closely with the Soldiers Arts Academy, ‘B22’ Royal British Legion and the 'Company of Makers' in Portsmouth – non-profit organisations giving serving and former military personnel a route into the arts.

Another is Colour Sergeant Beaton MBE (a.k.a. Commando Chef), who hosts free cooking classes up and down the country through which he helps educate young people about nutrition and against knife crime. His classes often feature his catchphrase: “Knives in the kitchen and not on the streets”.

The campaign will launch on November 18th as a ten-minute full screen takeover for the iconic Piccadilly Circus billboard, and will include cinema activity and other assets for OOH locations across the country.

Individual films about each Royal Navy person starring in the campaign will be featured here when the campaign goes live: www.royalnavy.mod.uk/celebrate

The cinema activity goes live on Friday 17th November and involves a 60 second film featuring all seven personnel/veterans. The other OOH locations assets are at Piccadilly Circus which goes live at 4pm on Saturday 18th November and a 6 second motion graphic in eight major UK shopping centres which also goes live on Saturday 18th November.

Tamryn Kerr and Marc Allenby, Co-Founders and Chief Creative Officers at Hijinks Collective, said: “Seeing the work that we co-created with the Royal Navy go live is a real moment of Hijinks history. As an agency we set out to create culture, not campaigns and this piece of work is just that. Hearing all of the incredible stories of people going above and beyond to serve not only the Royal Navy but also their local communities was a joy. Getting to work with those same people to bring this campaign to life was a privilege.”

Alix Vonk, Head of Communications and Influence at the Royal Navy said: “Since joining the Royal Navy communications team I have been blown away by the talent we have in-house. When Hijinks came to us with 'A Celebration of Duty' we could instantly see the potential. This collaboration and working in a ‘bubble’ with the Hijinks team has allowed us to tap into in-house talent in a way that pushed our thinking and raised our ambition. This beautiful campaign is that ambition realised.”

PO Phot Daniel Shepherd, Video Production Unit lead, said: “Creating this campaign brought together two completely different worlds to make something truly unique. Working with Hijinks as one cohesive team helped us draw from each other’s vastly different talents to tell our stories' in the most authentic way possible.”