age uk case study – planning an integrated campaign
TRANSCRIPT
Bridging the Gap: Integrating Communications and Fundraising Workshop
25 May,2011
CharityComms is the professional membership body for charity communicators. We believe charity communications are integral to each charity’s work for a better world.
W: www.charitycomms.org.uk T: 0207 426 8877
Spread The Warmth
Age UK
UK’s leading charity dedicated to improving later life
Age Concern and Help the Aged – merged in 2009. Brand launced April 2010
Partners
• Age Scotland, Age Northern Ireland, Age Cymru,
• 300 local partners of local Age UK’s, Age Concerns and Friends
• 470 Age UK Retail Shops
Income generation:
• Enterprise
• Retail
• Voluntary
Charitable activities
• Services
• Research
• Campaigning & Influencing
Audience
Donors / supporters:
Primary: 65+ ABC1 donors on higher incomes (with focus on AB audiences, South East/South West bias, aged 65);
Secondary: ABC1 50-65 year olds who are becoming more aware of issues due to own age/family members; AND Younger audiences who may be less engaged with the issues but who will be attracted to our campaign activity
Beneficiaries:
75+ on very low incomes
Families and carers
Stakeholders:
Brand partners, other organisations working on age or issues relating to poverty, Government
Campaign Aims & Objectives
To reduce suffering and preventable winter deaths during winter
• ‘Own’ Winter – a unifying theme around warmth
• Generate funds and collect data
• Raise awareness of the issues and Age UK
• Develop a platform for multi-channel, mass involvement
• Maximise our marketing spend across the board
Why Spread the Warmth?
• Gives Age UK the scope to be serious and
playful – uniting fundraising and communications
• PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL warmth
• Winter isn’t the real issue; ‘real warmth’ is
• For older people: It’s being connected, engaged
with life, avoiding the dangers winter brings and
not feeling cold, receiving warmth from others
• For supporters: It’s a kind thought, a helpful
action, a simple donation. Feel, share, wear the
warmth
Campaign Structure
Channel Strategy
Campaign ran from Oct 25 to Feb 11
• Digital www.spreadthewarmth.org.uk
• Face to Face
• Direct mail
• National press inserts
• Radio
• PR
• Shop windows/ till leaflets
• Virals/ online advertising
Phase 1 - Seeding
Leverage corporate partnerships marketing
investment to launch campaign
Big Knit – innocent• Army of 250,000 knitters
• £177,000 raised
• ATL – Grazia, Metro, Heat, national dailies
• £60K AVE in local PR
Decca Records • Race for Christmas number 1
• Media events in Manchester, Cardiff,
Glasgow – Isabel spreading the warmth by
singing to older people
Topshop• Christmas Cards
• Spread the Warmth designer soups
Lionel’s Wheel of Warmth
Aim:
•Collect data and convert to supporters
•Create talk-abililty and STW conversations
•Generate media interviews and coverage using
Lionel as a spokesperson
Spin Lionel’s wheel to generate an ‘act of warmth’
Spin the wheel to generate your act of kindness…
Digital
Information & Advice
•Record print of Winter Wrapped
Up guide sponsored by British
Gas
• An insert in The Mirror during
February – the coldest month of
the year
• The Spread the Warmth online
hub
Phase 2: Call to Action
Pledge to Spread the Warmth
• Face to Face thermometer give away
• Pledge to take action against winter
fuel poverty
• Pledge to do something to spread the
warmth to an older person
• Key data collection mechanism –
future financial support
• Also through Age UK Retail
Retail – Stock Drive
• 2 million inserts in weekend Telegraph,
Times and Mail on Sunday
• Supported with a poster campaign in
Age UK Retail shop windows
Direct Marketing
•Christmas appeal focused on
loneliness of older people during
winter
•1 million older people will spend
Christmas day alone
•5 million say the TV is their main
form of company
• Help fund our befriending
schemes to spread the warmth
Phase 3: Bobble Day!
Income
£853,793.68 raised during the Spread the Warmth campaign period
Response Highlights
Traffic to Spread the Warmth
•243,057 Page Views
•103,935 Visits + 23% on target
•87,055 unique visitors
Online Advertising
•69,643,832 ad impressions
•63,203 clicks
•88,013 emails sent and 4,527 clicks
E-Cards
• 35,159 Visits in total, 3,946 e-cards
sent
Lionel’s Wheel of Warmth
•11,119 Visits
Data collected
•Approx 7,880 instances of data collection
Twitter & facebook
•86,473 people exposed to the Bobble Day
message
•918 Twobbles
•376 facebook “likes
Downloads
•6,587 Winter Wrapped Up downloads
Press inserts and Daily Mirror
•Average response rate 0.01%NB
Media Coverage
•Total circulation reach of 78,014,884
•AVE of £365,337 including online
• 239 pieces of coverage generated
• 15 national – including broadcast, 2
consumer,
• 153 local/regional,
• 7 trade
• 50 online
Key Challenges
• Very short timescales led to missed opportunities
• Lack of assets at key points in campaign – hard news and case studies
• Orange was not a great colour for Northern Ireland!
• Lionel’s wheel didn’t quite work……
• Bobble Day has to compete with Red Nose Day and Valentines
• No central budget – so a battle over bills
• We were often driven by momentum rather than strategy
• Difficult to measure the direct impact of STW on income
But…..
What did we learn?
• People really love our campaign and want it to work
• We need clearer messages around the cost of warmth - lots of confusion
• We need robust, quality assets to respond to opportunities
• We need to do fewer things well and have really clear objectives
• Would highly recommend an agency for organisations of our size/scale
• We know planning is key – but sometimes it’s worth taking a chance
Thank you
Laurie Boult
Head of Corporate, Community, Events & Celebrity
Bridging the Gap: Integrating Communications and Fundraising Workshop
25 May,2011
CharityComms is the professional membership body for charity communicators. We believe charity communications are integral to each charity’s work for a better world.
W: www.charitycomms.org.uk T: 0207 426 8877