Ancestry gives voice to everyday war heroes through words of poet Nikita Gill

The popular family history tool commissioned Gill to pen a heart-wrenching piece titled ‘Who You Are,’ inspired by the trench poets of the Great War, to bring real-life stories of heroism and stoicism to modern audiences.

PR agency Red Consultancy was engaged to lead an integrated campaign promoting the work, presented as a short film that delves deep into the roots of Gill’s family tree and grandfathers who served in the First World War.

Shot in the atmospheric bowels of a period bunker in Portsmouth, the evocative wordsmith tells of the sacrifices of those on the front lines and the home front to encourage audiences to research their own family history during the war years.

Sue Moncur, vice-president of international markets at Ancestry, said: “This Remembrance, we wanted to bring to life the untold stories from the home front and frontline in a new and creative way. Working with Nikita Gill and amplifying her poignant poem via an integrated marketing campaign has helped us shine a light on the everyday and not-so-everyday stories of wartime Britain. This is one of our biggest Remembrance campaigns, and we hope that our multi-channel approach will not only reach new audiences, but help encourage and inspire people to discover their own family wartime stories.”

Airing on TV, cinema, BVOD, radio, PR and onsite marketing, the advert will appear on ITV, Channel 4, Sky and YouTube. Extensive social media activity focuses on a Facebook Live event in which Gill will be joined by Ancestry’s military family history expert Simon Pearce to discuss the importance of family trees.

Having previously marked the Blitz, Ancestry commemorated the end of racial slavery in the United States this June after the US Congress established Juneteenth as an official holiday.

Credits

• Client: Ancestry

• PR agency: Red Consultancy

• Media agency: The7stars

• Social media agency: 1000heads

• Talent: Nikita Gill

• Production company: Ratchet