eskimosoup is celebrating the arrival of two major international awards for its work on a film series that raises awareness of how young people are groomed and exploited by criminal gangs.
Alfie’s Story, written and produced by eskimosoup, won Public Sector Marketing Strategy at the Drum Content Marketing Awards, the annual awards from The Drum’s global media platform and the biggest marketing website in Europe.
Far surpassing the expectations of the small business, Alfie’s Story went on to scoop the prestigious Grand Prix Award, beating prominent global brands such as Porsche, Unilever, and Jägermeister.
Whilst the results were announced online in November 2020, a COVID-19-related manufacturing delay meant that it was another six months before eskimosoup officially received the awards.
Alfie’s Story was developed as part of the Not In Our Community campaign by the North East Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership through funding from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside and the Home Office.
Not In Our Community helps young people protect themselves and friends against grooming that can lead to sexual and criminal exploitation, as well as providing learning resources for parents, carers and teachers.
Co-produced with Storyboard Media, the series of short films tell the story of Alfie, a boy in Grimsby who becomes exploited by criminals to deal drugs on their behalf, eventually by using threats against his family members and serious violence. The script and characters were taken from real life experiences, with the judging panel at the Drum Awards praising how it emotionally connected with an audience of over 4 million viewers across the globe.
eskimosoup Managing Director John Gilbert said: “Everyone involved in the creation of Alfie’s Story is delighted to be recognised for creating something special that has proven to help young people in our area and beyond.
“Winning our category is great, but to win the Grand Prix is incredible; the Drum Awards are like the Oscars of the marketing world and we won best picture!
“It was strange hearing we’d won the awards on a livestream and the fact that a small local company had been recognised in this way kind of flew under the radar. I’d pretty much forgotten about the trophies and was pleasantly surprised when over six months later they finally arrived and now take pride and place in the office.”
Not In Our Community is funded and overseen by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside. Alfie’s Story and a range of related campaign films can be found at www.notinourcommunity.org.