Love Letters to Cinema
Creative, Design, OOH, Social, Website, Publicity
Escapes' first large-scale brand awareness campaign invited cinema lovers across the UK to write love letters to the big screen, celebrating the role cinema plays in their lives.
Timed around Valentine's Day, the campaign transformed authentic audience stories into a multi-channel creative spanning social, digital, out-of-home and industry outreach. By putting real voices at the centre of the work, Love Letters to Cinema helped build awareness for Escapes and its free cinema ticket programme while creating an emotional connection with both existing and new audiences.
WHY
Escapes wanted to deliver its first major brand awareness campaign, increasing visibility for both the Escapes platform and its offer of free cinema tickets.
Rather than relying on traditional advertising, the ambition was to create a campaign that celebrated cinema culture itself. We identified Valentine's Day as a natural cultural moment and developed a platform that invited audiences to share genuine expressions of love for cinema.
The campaign was designed to generate awareness, encourage participation and create a bank of authentic audience stories that could be amplified across multiple channels.
WHAT
We launched an open call inviting cinema-goers from across the UK to submit their own "love letters" to cinema. The response generated 137 submissions from audiences, film lovers, creators, journalists and industry figures.
Working alongside Manchester-based creative agency MikeSian Studio, we developed a distinctive visual identity inspired by handwritten letters and vintage postcards. The creative deliberately stepped outside of Escapes' usual brand guidelines, creating a bold and culturally relevant look that felt native to Valentine's Day while remaining recognisably Escapes.
Selected letters became the foundation of the campaign, appearing across organic social, paid media, the Escapes website and a nationwide out-of-home campaign.
Collections of letters were curated around different themes, including personal memories, favourite cinemas, reasons for escaping into film and reflections on what cinema means to audiences today. These stories were published across Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, with selected content boosted to extend reach and engagement.
The campaign extended beyond digital channels through a nationwide OOH programme delivered in partnership with JCDecaux and Build Hollywood. Across 44 placements in 28 locations, creative executions featured real submissions from local audiences, helping the campaign resonate within each community and creating highly shareable moments in cities including Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Edinburgh.
To further amplify awareness, we also engaged creators, journalists, critics, actors and other industry figures, encouraging participation and helping the campaign reach audiences beyond Escapes' existing community.
IMPACT
137 love letter submissions received
322,125 social views
178,193 social reach
4,028 social engagements
882 new followers
143,172 website page views
20,322 unique website users
44 OOH placements across 28 UK locations