Lebara - The Other Referendum

In the lead-up to the UK's EU Referendum, migrants were being used as a wedge issue and certain newspapers were contributing to the negative sentiment. We worked with Lebara, a network known for its international call rates, to create a social campaign to help rebalance this sentiment and get migrant voices heard during the referendum debate.

As part of the campaign, we created our own polling station in a migrant-owned London corner shop (where Lebara sim cards were on sale), giving migrants an opportunity to vote with their voice when they weren’t legally allowed to vote in the EU Referendum.

We also made several films to debunk negative news and political claims about migrants and show viewers the reality. Content spanned over a two-week reactive social newsroom, where we took to the streets daily to record vox pops in response to the latest media headlines. While we didn’t stop Brexit, the Lebara’s audience felt seen and supported by their chosen international network.

Results: 3.5 million impressions, and Lebara were invited onto BBC news to discuss the issue.

Creative credits: Josh Tenser, Nick Allsop, Eric Chia.

Director: Kel Mitchell