Educating on Digital Safety Through Animated Storytelling

Educating Parents on Digital Safety Through Animated Storytelling

A Human-Centered Approach to a Sensitive Topic

The Challenge: 

Meta approached Brand Heist to help communicate an important and sensitive message to parents: the risks of oversharing images and personal information about their children online. The objective was to raise awareness and drive thoughtful behavior—without using fear tactics or overwhelming the audience. The content needed to be engaging, emotionally resonant, and educational—delivered in a way that felt accessible and empathetic to everyday parents.

Our Approach: 

Brand Heist led the end-to-end creative development of a short animated video designed to inform and empower parents, partnering closely with Meta’s internal teams to ensure accuracy, brand alignment, and impact. Our process blended creative storytelling with strategic sensitivity, keeping the audience’s emotional experience front and center.

1. Concept Development & Creative Strategy

   
   

   • Facilitated strategy sessions with Meta to define tone, narrative goals, and visual style.

   • Developed a concept centered around a relatable parent navigating digital sharing decisions, avoiding shame and instead fostering empathy and insight.

   • Presented multiple creative directions, ultimately landing on a warm, illustrative animation style that balanced storytelling with education.

     
     

2. Scriptwriting & Message Framing

   
   

   • Wrote a full script and storyboard outline grounded in behavioral psychology and real-world parent scenarios.

   • Balanced factual education with storytelling to help parents feel seen, not judged.

   • Worked with Meta’s legal and safety teams to ensure message integrity, compliance, and factual accuracy.

     
     

3. Animation Production

   
   

   • Managed the production timeline, animation studio coordination, and visual development from start to finish.

   • Oversaw voiceover casting, recording, and direction to ensure a relatable, trustworthy tone.

   • Directed animation reviews across all stages—from animatics to final color—maintaining narrative flow and emotional pacing.

     
     

4. Content Packaging & Distribution Support

   
   

   • Delivered video assets in multiple formats for Meta’s cross-channel use: social media, education hubs, internal training, and events.

   • Designed accompanying social cutdowns and static visuals to reinforce the campaign message.

   • Developed sample post copy and rollout guidance to support distribution by partner organizations and influencers.

     
     

The Results:

• A highly shareable animated video that struck the right balance of emotional relatability and practical guidance.

• Positive feedback from parent focus groups, noting the content’s clarity, tone, and helpfulness.

• Successful internal rollout across Meta’s Safety team and integration into parent-focused digital literacy initiatives.

• Reinforced Meta’s commitment to proactive digital safety and thoughtful user education.

  
  

Why Brand Heist? When the message matters, it takes more than design—it takes empathy. Brand Heist brought strategic creativity, cross-functional collaboration, and high-touch execution to one of today’s most critical digital safety conversations. For Meta, we helped translate policy into powerful, human storytelling.

Want to Educate Through Empathy? If your brand has something meaningful to say—but needs help crafting the story—we’re here to build it with care, clarity, and impact.