A human billboard in London's Victoria station has kicked off Cancer Research UK’s new multi-channel brand campaign which asks for supporters to collectively take ‘one million actions’.

The new campaign, which bears the tagline ‘Beat Cancer Sooner’, launched yesterday with an installation in London Victoria train station featuring four cancer survivors in body paint blending into a billboard background. The human billboard preceded television, radio and outdoor advertising which will all call for supporters to take an ‘action’ to help beat the disease.

Actions are identified as donating cash or goods, volunteering, fundraising or campaigning.

“We’d love everyone to come together and help us reach one million actions against the disease over the next six weeks,” said Cancer Research UK’s director of brand and strategic marketing Natasha Hill. “Whether that’s by signing up to an event, donating money, dropping off your unwanted goods to our high street shops, sharing information about cancer and campaigns through the Cancer Research UK Facebook page or even becoming a citizen scientist and classifying cells.”

The campaign will run for six weeks, and is requesting that supporters take actions within those six weeks.

A spokeswoman for Cancer Research UK told civilsociety.co.uk that there were no specific targets for fundraising, although it did expect donations to be higher than in the absence of any such campaign. “We don’t have any set expectations,” she said. “We want people to get involved in any way they can.”

This round of brand advertising is the second lot this year for Cancer Research UK, which around last Christmas launched its first wave of brand activity following a re-brand last year.

Speaking to civilsociety.co.uk last year, director of fundraising Richard Taylor said the charity was keen to emphasise the impact that cancer research and donors can and have made in fighting the disease.