The RNLI is funded entirely by donations from the public. It provides a 24 hour coastal rescue service for the whole of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Research showed that the key motivator for people who give donations to the RNLI is the bravery of the boats' crews, who risk their lives to rescue people at sea.

So our brief was based around the proposition 'Your donations will help make sure our crews get home safely.'

A visit to the RNLI training centre helped us understand just how tough and well-trained lifeboat crews have to be. This was what inspired the creative idea - a training exercise that is so realistic that the viewer believes the crew are experiencing a genuine threat to their lives during a night rescue at sea. The dramatic reveal then shows that the whole thing has taken place in a training pool.It took the remarkable directorial skills of Hollywood director Michael-Caton Jones to realise our vision and turn it into such a dramatic and gripping story.

The new commercial was tested in a small spend drtv campaign, using upmarket, older skewed satellite channels, in the Autumn period. Half of the campaign impressions ran as top and tail, the 60 second commercial followed later in the commercial break by a 10 second reminder commercial to ring with a donation.The campaign generated over 300 supporters, with an average gift amount more than double that of some of the other successful fundraising channels.