Ancestry, the global leader in family history, has launched an integrated campaign revealing untold personal experiences from the First and Second World Wars with poet Nikita Gill.

The campaign, proposed by Red Consultancy, is focused on the emotive poem titled “Who You Are”, created by Nikita Gill and commissioned by Ancestry. The poem, inspired by the original ‘trench poets’ from the First World War, blends real-life stories discovered in the extensive collection of UK and Ireland wartime records found on Ancestry with tales recounted by Nikita’s own grandfathers who served in the Indian Army.

The poem was captured in a poignant short film produced by Ratchet, which is shot against the atmospheric backdrop of Fort Widley’s bunker in Portsmouth. The footage shines a light on the ordinary and extraordinary moments experienced by those on the front line and home front and encourages the audience to discover their own wartime family history on Ancestry.

The campaign will be rolling out across cinema, TV, BVOD, radio, PR, social media and onsite marketing from 4^th November. A 30 second advert based on the short film will be featured in UK-wide cinema campaign from 4-14^th November. The advert will also feature across ITV, Channel 4 and Sky on TV, with BVOD including All4, ITV Hub and Sky, as well as YouTube.

Sue Moncur, VP of International Markets at Ancestry said: “This Remembrance, we wanted to bring to life the untold stories from the home front and frontline in a new and creative way. Working with Nikita Gill and amplifying her poignant poem via an integrated marketing campaign has helped us shine a light on the everyday and not-so-everyday stories of wartime Britain. This is one of our biggest Remembrance campaigns and we hope that our multi-channel approach will not only reach new audiences, but help encourage and inspire people to discover their own family wartime stories.’’