Police spread to net ads in battle against crime

Apr 20 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

The adverts focus on the police’s ability to pick out criminals from other people travelling in the county.

MAAD managing director Colin Kelly, who started the business with his father Kevin when he left university 11 years ago, said: “Surrey Police were great clients to work for. They were very open-minded and willing to explore different avenues of design to maximise their reach.

“We were given the freedom to deliver a concept which connects with the target audience on their level and we’re confident it will deliver real impact with the public.”

The team used phone and online conferencing to discuss ideas and share images with the police.

One of MAAD’s philosophies is to concentrate on creating work that will engage the target audience, even if is means leaving behind traditional communication methods.

Surrey Police spokesman Nick Cloke said: “MAAD responded excellently to our brief – which included demographic and geographic profiles of out- of-county criminals – to create really targeted visuals for our campaign.”

MAAD, which employs 10 people, has produced work for clients in more than 40 countries.

Pharmaceuticals and household products giant Procter & Gamble and music label Global Underground are among the firm’s big clients. It also has a number of projects bubbling under, including a top-secret contract with a US skincare company.

Mr Kelly said: “In this kind of climate we have a growth policy but it won’t be aggressive.”