UNISON - We Show Up

UNISON asked us to create an emotionally compelling brand platform that would rebuild pride among its members, remind the public of the value of public services, and strengthen UNISON's position as a credible, hopeful voice calling for greater investment.

Six years after the nation clapped for carers, public service workers had faded back into the background. We rely on them every day, yet too often take them for granted.

Our opportunity was to turn being "always there" from something invisible into something worth celebrating. To shift the conversation from the services we depend on to the people who make them possible.

WE SHOW UP.

Public service workers show up for all of us, every day. So we created a platform that made their contribution impossible to overlook, while asking the public and politicians to show up for them in return.

Rather than simply highlighting the work public service workers do, we wanted to reveal the difference they make. The lives they change, the futures they shape and the communities they hold together.

The platform was designed to work on multiple levels: rebuilding pride among UNISON's members, inspiring public appreciation and creating political pressure for meaningful investment. From emotionally powerful storytelling to public activations, every expression of the campaign reinforced one simple message: it's time to show up for the people who always show up for us.

We launched We Show Up during the World Cup, when millions across the country were coming together to support their national football team. But while we're quick to get behind the team representing us on the pitch, what about the other team who show up for us every day?

From NHS staff and care workers to council teams, the campaign used the nation's passion for football to shine a light on the millions of public service workers who make a difference to our lives and communities.

Rolling out across digital and social, the campaign tapped into one of the nation's biggest shared cultural moments to ask a simple question: if we can show up for our football team, why aren't we showing up for the people who are always there for us? Turning a moment of national pride into a call for greater recognition, fair pay and better-funded public services.

To bring the platform to life on a more personal level, we created an emotive brand film revealing the profound, often unseen impact public service workers have on our lives.

The film celebrates not only the vital work public service workers do, but also what they make possible. From small acts of kindness to life-changing interventions, it reveals the human impact behind their everyday work, shining a light on the lives they touch, the opportunities they create and the futures they help shape.

Ahead of the Autumn Budget, we wanted to take We Show Up into the heart of political power, making the case for public service workers impossible to ignore.

We created a striking bronze statue installed in Westminster, in the shadow of Parliament, giving the people who keep the country running the kind of recognition traditionally reserved for historic leaders and national figures.

But the installation was more than a tribute. It was a direct challenge to the government ahead of the Budget: appreciation alone isn't enough. Public service workers have continued to show up for the country through years of mounting pressure. Now it's time for those in power to show up for them, with the recognition, support and investment they deserve.