CurrysSigh of Relief
Client
Currys
Year
2024
Agency
AMV BBDO & Spark
Tech retailer Currys spotlights the relief people with additional needs feel when they shop at its stores in this 80-second film.
Winner of the Channel 4 Diversity in Advertising Award, “Sigh of relief” follows the in-store experience of three customers with accessibility needs when shopping for tech appliances.
It features an audio-describer and British Sign Language interpreter, who are key characters in the story.
When each customer feels their needs are being catered to, they let out a sigh of relief so big it causes a strong wind to blow through the store.
It was directed by Greg Bell through Omnicom Production and created by Lauren Peters and Augustine Cerf.
Winner of the Channel 4 Diversity in Advertising Award, “Sigh of relief” follows the in-store experience of three customers with accessibility needs when shopping for tech appliances.
The entire ad is audio described and features BSL for those with sight and hearing loss, echoing the “Inclusive by design” brief and illustrating how inclusivity should be embedded into the creative from the beginning.
Aisling Lancaster, head of brand and advertising at Currys, told us about the ways the brand caters for those with disabilities.
The tech retailer has a quiet hour in stores five days a week between nine and 10 in the morning, where screens are turned off and customers are encouraged to keep their noise levels down.
Currys is a member of the sunflower scheme and all staff are trained to understand and be aware of the needs of someone who might have a sunflower lanyard or card.
The store is also trialling WelcoMe, an app that allows people to share their needs in advance with colleagues at a specific store so they can provide the best customer service.
"Sometimes it could feel a bit hollow” creating work with inclusion in mind when the brand itself has not done anything to make its user experience more inclusive. It was very important for us, if we're going to put something forward for this, that not only the work hit the brief, but also what Currys has been doing as well
The 2024 Paralympic Games played a large role in deciding what the theme of the award was going to be. Instead of just focusing on representation of the disabled community, Channel 4 wanted to focus more on reach and has been working to try and make its advertising more accessible. This brief therefore encouraged creative agencies participating in this year’s award to look at this issue strategically with the “Inclusive by design” brief. With Currys, the response to the brief was so compelling, because we realised that this wasn't just an opportunity to reach those 18 million people that we weren't reaching before. This was also a message to the industry to show how this is possible.