This campaign is centred on an audiobook, released on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. The audiobook was promoted in various channels including through the use of radio and podcast adverts.

Someone goes missing in the UK every 90 seconds. It is a huge problem. An increasing number of those who go missing are being drawn into something called County Lines drug running. This is where gangs use vulnerable people, often children, to transport drugs from cities to smaller towns and villages. The story of our audiobook – The Missing Lines – is based on a boy who gets caught up in County Lines drug running. So it was very topical in the UK.

The Missing Lines was launched as you would any other audiobook. With posters, radio ads and influencer activity. It was read by world-renowned actor, comedian, presenter and narrator – Stephen Fry. As it starts the listener hears a gripping tale about a young man caught up in County Lines drug running. However, a few minutes into the first chapter, the story cuts out. The listener is left with nothing but an eerie silence. The remaining chapters were also filled with silence. The story has no end. Two days later we launched a new chapter, along with a social media post from Stephen Fry, which revealed that this was a stunt to highlight what it feels like when a loved one goes missing and inviting people to learn more or donate on the Missing People website.

The audio is in English

Someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK. The families of those who go missing describe the frustration of not knowing what has happened as feeling “like a story without an ending”. Our brief was to raise awareness of the scale of the problem and create empathy with the families of those who go missing. We had zero budget for the project so our objective was to make as much noise as possible without spending any money.

The audiobook was downloaded over 16,000 times and reached no.1 in the fiction charts in 9 countries, including the UK. The PR that was triggered by the reveal, along with an influencer campaign that we organised to boost the impact, helped us reach over 3.5 million people. This led to the charity receiving four months’ worth of social media interactions in a single week. Without them spending a penny. And, crucially, the response was overwhelmingly positive with people understanding why the audiobook had no ending and expressing sympathy for the loved ones of people who go missing.

The main innovative element was to intentionally launch an audiobook that cuts off after a few minutes, as a way of demonstrating what it feels like when a loved one goes missing. Hacking the audiobook format in this way allowed us to create a level of understanding and empathy that wouldn’t have been possible through a traditional approach. It was also crucial for providing the disruption required to get PR attention for the campaign and amplify our message, despite having zero paid media. Making the audiobook look genuine when we launched it was crucial. Hence the lengths we went to in getting a world-renowned storyteller to narrate it, a national out of home campaign to launch it and influencer activity to drive the online conversation in the days before we revealed why the audiobook was ‘broken’.