Suffolk Constabulary
Behaviour-change campaign designed to reach young people on their terms...
Changing minds. Changing behaviour.
Authentic engagement turned attention into action
Clarity
in communicating expertise beyond public-sector audiences
Cohesive
brand platform driving internal and external confidence
Global
understanding and alignment for brand identity across all international offices
Commanding change
reduction in anti-social behaviour across hotspot areas
hero video views
full video playthroughs
Real change starts with relevance
Project overview
Suffolk Constabulary partnered with Mobas to tackle a complex communications challenge: influencing young people who would typically avoid or dismiss traditional police messaging.
The campaign focused on potential offenders aged 16–35 across 16 identified anti-social behaviour hotspots. Alongside changing behaviour, it also needed to reassure local communities that action was being taken and encourage residents to report incidents.
To achieve both objectives, the campaign needed to move beyond conventional authority-led communications and create something that felt authentic to the people it was trying to reach.
Defining the challange
Traditional police communications can struggle to connect with the very audiences they most need to influence. For younger people already resistant to authority-led messaging, another warning or instruction risked simply being ignored.
The challenge was therefore about more than reach. The campaign needed to earn attention and credibility.
With 16 geographically diverse hotspots and different community dynamics to consider, the creative also needed to feel relevant at a local level while maintaining a clear and consistent message across the wider campaign.
Rather than making assumptions about what would resonate, we involved the audience directly.
Focus groups with police cadets explored everything from visual preferences to language and tone of voice. Their feedback helped shape a creative approach that felt rooted in the audience’s reality rather than traditional institutional communications.
From that process, Operation Spotlight was born.
Strategy and Solution
At the centre of the campaign was a deliberately direct message: “Don’t be a mug.” Punchy, relatable language challenged anti-social behaviour by focusing on its personal consequences, giving the campaign an attitude designed to provoke thought rather than deliver a lecture.
The visual and verbal identity was created to stop the scroll, feel immediately accessible and give the campaign enough confidence to compete for attention within the content young people were already consuming.
The media strategy followed the same principle as the creative: don’t expect the audience to come to you. A social-first approach prioritised TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, allowing the campaign to appear naturally within the digital environments most relevant to the target audience. Non-skippable advertising and attention-grabbing video gave the message the visibility needed to cut through.
Crime data enabled precision targeting around specific postcodes and identified hotspots, ensuring campaign investment was concentrated where it could have the greatest impact.
Alongside this, Meta communications targeted local residents with reassurance and reporting information. This dual approach allowed the campaign to influence potential offenders while simultaneously demonstrating visible action to the wider community.
Results and impact
The campaign demonstrated that communications built around genuine audience understanding can influence more than awareness.
Anti-social behaviour fell by 45% across targeted hotspot areas, providing a clear indication of meaningful change where the campaign was active.
The hero video generated more than one million views, with 66,000 people watching the content through to completion. The campaign also attracted national media coverage while contributing to increased confidence among local communities.
Together, the results showed the value of combining audience insight, authentic creative and precision targeting. Rather than simply broadcasting a police message more widely, the campaign changed how that message was delivered and created measurable impact as a result.
Ready to chat? We can help.
Let’s be honest – it’s probably better to have a chat about things first. Get in touch below and we’ll be in contact soon.
+44 (0)1223 841 699
say.hello@mobas.com
Let’s be honest – it’s probably better to have a chat about things first. Get in touch below and we’ll be in contact soon.
+44 (0)1223 841 699
say.hello@mobas.com
