Presented on Tuesday 6 September at NCVO Campaigning Conference 2016. Daniel Pattison, Digital Content Manager, Scope Danny Beales, Campaigns Manager, Diabetes UK Gareth Ellis-Thomas, Head of Digital, Prostate Cancer Chloe Stables, External Relations Manager, NCVO (chair) If you would like to find out more about our training and events, visit our website at https://www.ncvo.org.uk/training-and-events.

1. Exhibitors:
Sponsor:
USING HUMOUR TO MAKE YOUR
CAMPAIGN HIT HOME
CHAIR:
CHLOE STABLES
EXTERNAL RELATIONS MANAGER, NCVO
SPEAKERS:
DANIEL PATTISON
DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER, SCOPE
DANNY BEALES
CAMPAIGNS MANAGER, DIABETES UK
GARETH ELLIS-THOMAS
HEAD OF DIGITAL, PROSTATE CANCER

2. End the Awkward
Bring The Funny
Daniel Pattison – Digital Content Manager

3. End the Awkward… so far

4. End the Awkward 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLEJWI99Hx3tFnI0CSFuALp-dXiVqJVYoW&v=jGXBcRtLe6o

5. What are we setting out to achieve?

6. Why awkward?

7. Why funny?
 Our campaigns weren't getting
cut through
 Humour is memorable
 Humour gets you in the door
(and in their feed)
 You can follow up with more
serious supportive content
 Using a vocabulary and format
our audience knows
 Not ostensibly a ‘charity video’
 It can reach a mass,
mainstream audience

8. With a little help from our
friends
 Stories told by disabled people
 Focus groups
 Kickstarters
 Disabled talent
 Co-created content
 Other charities
 Media partners
 Qual and quant research
 The target audience!

9. Preparing for 2016
 We knew we needed to do something special for 2016 to top the huge success
we’ve enjoyed so far
 We have appointed new media and creative partners
 We also set ourselves some key principles…
Co-creation
Be brave
Don’t preach to the choir
Go big or go home

10. Knowing our audience

11. This year’s advert

12. This year’s advert

13. This year’s advert

14. And what does it look like?

15. TOP SECRET

16. Let me tell you a story…
 The stories of disabled
people have always been at
the heart of End the
Awkward. And this year will
be no different.
 Throughout the six weeks
of the campaign we’ll be
highlighting hilarious
awkward stories and
anecdotes.
 We’ll also have a series of
‘What not to do’ videos
featuring some tips from our
friends

17. What we’ve learnt
 Some people will hate it
 But most people will love it
 Be brave – don’t just listen to the loudest
voices
 Testing your content with ALL of your
stakeholders
 Let your stakeholders tell their story
 Work with people who do funny for a
living

18. Thank you

19. NCVO CAMPAIGNING CONFENCE:
USING HUMOUR TO MAKE YOUR
CAMPAIGN HIT HOME
SEPTEMBER 2016

21. THE ISSUE

22. UNFAIR PRESCRIPTION FINES
• People with diabetes and other long-term health conditions are
entitled to free prescriptions, but technically need a medical
exemption certificate.
• In practice, the rules were never enforced.
• September 2014: the NHS suddenly began strictly enforcing the
rules in late 2014.
• Thousands of people with diabetes started being fined up to £100
for having claimed free prescriptions without having an up-to-date
certificate.
• January 2015: Diabetes UK met with the NHS to make the case
that these fines were unfair.

23. THE CREATIVE SPARK

24. THE POWER OF PARTRIDGE
• Agreed objectives of campaign:
1. to raise awareness of need for medical exception forms
2. to secure a pause on fines
3. get fines refunded.
• Clear target for action: Dr. Dan Poulter MP

25. THE RESPONSE:
DAN! STOP THE FINES

26. THE VIDEO

27. TWEETS ROLL IN….

28. THE REACTION AND
IMAPCT

29. THE POWER OF PARTRIDGE
• Third week of March: Dr Poulter says people will be given a chance to
get exemption forms.
• Fourth week of March: Dr Poulter refunds all penalty charges.

30. RECOGNITION
PR Week Awards 2015
• Gold Award: Campaign of the Year – winner
• Campaign of the Year: Public Affairs – winner
• Campaign of the Year: Not-for-Profit – winner
The Drum – Social Buzz Awards 2015
• Best Socially Responsible Initiative – nominated

31. THE RISKS AND
CONCLUSIONS

32. LESSONS LEARNT
• Don’t over think
• Short and sweet
• Senior buy-in often essential
• Get the right people round the table
• Move quickly
• The behind the scenes still matters
• Humour is only one tool
• Money isn’t everything

33. HITTING HOME IN
OTHER WAYS

34. AMP SHOES

35. DANNY BEALES
CAMPAIGNS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGER
Danny.Beales@diabetes.org.uk
GET IN TOUCH

36. Using humour to get the
message across
Ignoring prostate cancer won’t beat it
Gareth Ellis-Thomas
Head of Digital

37. About prostate cancer
• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men
in the UK
• 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer
• Over 10,000 men die from prostate cancer every
year
• By 2030, it will be the most common of all cancers
• 53% men aware of prostate cancer compared with
80% women aware of breast cancer*

41. When we’re talking to men
on their own turf we try to
be sensitive about forcing
key messages on them.
Most men don’t expect to
be told they’re going to die
when they watch football.

42. We’ve got previous

43. 2016 campaign brief
11,832,242
men in the UK aged 45-75
330,000
men living with prostate cancer

44. 2016 campaign brief
• Create a buzz that
multiplies the impact
• Maximising organic reach
• Consider humour, creative
juxtapositions of message
and medium, breaking
rules and taboos.

45. Ignoring prostate cancer won’t beat it

46. Ignoring prostate cancer won’t beat it

47. Did it work?
• More than 45% increase in
traffic to the website during
campaign time
• Highest level of unprompted
awareness in brand tracking
• Some social media backlash
(mainly from young men…)

48. Things to watch out for…
• Got to get the organisation
on board - buy in is crucial
• Test it with the target
audience
• Comedy is about timing - we
had to lose a lot in the 30
second advert

49. Prostate Cancer UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1005541) and in Scotland (SC039332).
Registered company number 02653887.
Thank you!