London is Open — Arjun Mahadevan

A bright pink LED display advert in a London Underground station with text in Dari, English and Pashto reading 'Refugees Welcome'

During times of growing uncertainty and hostility, the Mayor of London wanted to put a message out that London is an open and welcoming city, that anyone from any background can call their home.

As Britain geared up to exit the European Union in 2019, the campaign also needed to serve immigrants who were worried and uncertain about their future, directing them to information and resources to help make the process of applying for settled status easier. This was extended following the end of the American occupation of Afghanistan, which led to a huge increase in the number of Afghan refugees looking for safety elsewhere. In response, the Mayor of London launched a support fund to enable refugees to build a new life in London.

With many strands to the campaign, it needed the flexibility to adapt to different messages, audiences and context with a clear and solid central theme running through it.

An ad spot in London's Piccadilly Lights of the campaign hashtag over an image of an open Tower Bridge

A commuter looks down at a floor vinyl in Stockwell tube station. The vinyl reads 'Londres, cidade aberta'

The project involved working closely with Mayoral Directors, advisors, social policy teams and marketing specialists, with regular committee meetings to allow us to quickly adapt and respond to the changing social and political context. Collectively, we introduced the slogan ‘We are all Londoners’ to provide a defiant and unifying message for all Londoners.

We kicked off the campaign with floor vinyls placed strategically across Underground stations in areas with the largest European communities. A community advice roadshow providing vulnerable European Londoners with information on their immigration rights took place from a double-decker bus which was bedecked in the campaign slogan translated into all 24 official languages of the EU.

A close crop of a support worker holding a bunch of campaign leaflets

A London bus clad in the campaign slogan 'We are all Londoners' in 24 languages

To coincide with the launch of the Mayor’s response fund for Afghan refugees, I created some quick text animations displayed on digital screens across the city with a message welcoming refugees translated into Dari and Pashto – the two most widely spoken languages in Afghanistan.

The campaign featured out-of-home displays around London, including Piccadilly Circus and Tower Bridge, as well as non-traditional out-of-home placements, broadcast and on-demand video ad spots.

A bright pink LED display advert on a busy London street with text in Dari, English and Pashto reading 'Refugees Welcome'

The initial campaign ran for over six months and had a huge impact, with the launch video generating well over 1m views, and reaching nearly 4m Londoners via out of home advertising over 2 weeks.

The roadshow provided over a thousand EEA+ nationals and their families with free face-to-face advice and support over four days.