Description:

Cultural Context
New Zealand has the highest rate of domestic violence in the OECD – 1 in 3 women will experience abuse in their lifetime. LoveCreep.nz is a project by Love Better. The Love Better programme, set up by the Ministry of Social Development, is designed to help young people navigate sex and relationships to reduce harm now and into the future.

Problem
Coercive control is on the rise in young relationships. Left unchecked, it’s a key predictor of intimate partner violence. The lack of clarity around healthy relationships means young people question their own belief in what is ‘normal’. They don’t have the tools to adequately describe or identify controlling experience. This leaves them unsure of how to reach out for help.

Strategy and Idea
Coercive control has the perception of being intentional ‘bad’ boundary-crossing behaviour. The reality is this is all tied up in the messiness of love. For young people experiencing the excitement of love, harm seems far away. The problem is there’s no hard line – love can creep into control and the boundary can be blurry.

Love is the BEST, full of juicy and intense feelings.

LoveCreep.nz leans into this with an intentionally red-laden mobile-first experience that simulates coercive control. It helps people separate individual ‘loving’ behaviours through ‘Love Bites’ (collected from interviews with hundreds of Victim/Survivors) and identify wider patterns of control.
LoveCreep.nz steps away from ‘telling’ young people how control works and instead helps them understand and recognise patterns for themselves. They can reflect on their own relationships and ask themselves: ‘Is this love, or something else?’

Execution and Design
The intense red palette signals both love and danger. The compositions are heightened by the relentless use of the colour. Red is the focal point across the campaign, seeping into every touchpoint: website, films, social assets and OOH. The red serves as a visual shortcut for signaling potential controlling behaviours and patterns of abuse.

The art direction is inspired by brutalism, an architectural style that emerged in the mid-20th century, characterised by its functional, often austere aesthetic, creating an uninviting tone. A commitment to being reductive on the design journey created intentional discomfort. This process stripped away ‘love’ to reveal the brutal nature of control.

To drive young people to LoveCreep.nz, we leveraged our powerful red aesthetic, with striking 6 second ‘Love Bite’ films, and 30 second patterns based on real people’s experiences. The OOH also cut through on the streets. All of it asks: ‘Is this love?’

In the digital experience young people can learn more, seek advice and use ‘Love Bites’ to create their own patterns of control based on what they may have experienced – which are pushed out to direct new people back in.

Results
LoveCreep.nz has already seen shifts in behaviour amongst our audience.
• +5% in young people being able to confidently identify controlling behaviour
• -5% in saying they’re experiencing control in their relationships
• Youthline has seen an increase in callers asking whether their behaviour is controlling or not
• LoveCreep.nz is now being introduced into New Zealand high schools.