Thieves Inc.: A closer look at the University of Sheffield's award-winning student safety campaign

Abstract

In 2015, students at the University of Sheffield responded to the university's annual Student Communications Survey by saying that they would like more safety information from the university. In response, the Student Communications Team developed Safe Sheffield, a city-wide initiative that would act as an umbrella for various campaigns tackling different aspects of safety for the 59,000+ students living in the city. The first of these campaigns, Thieves Inc., was launched in September 2016 and dealt with the theme of burglary and property theft. In contrast to other theft-awareness campaigns aimed at students, and instead of focusing on scare tactics, Thieves Inc. took a humorous approach in an attempt to get students to engage with the message. Thieves Inc. was an ambitious multi-platform campaign comprising a mockumentary-style film, five shorter 'theme' films, strong social media and print campaigns, and a custom-built website. Although arguably risky, Thieves Inc. was extremely well received by students and the wider Sheffield and higher education communities (winning 'Best Marketing and Communications Campaign' at the Guardian University Awards and Gold in the 'Best Low Budget Initiative' category at the HEIST Awards in 2017) and has paved the way for similarly unconventional campaigns by the Student Communications Team in future.