Prostate Cancer UK has signed up 65,000 people to its movement-style new campaign, Men United vs Prostate Cancer, less than two weeks after it launched.

Men United vs Prostate Cancer will be the charity’s key campaign for at least the next two years, underpinning its engagement, fundraising, campaigning and awareness-raising. It aims to reach 96 per cent of adults over 45 years of age, with print, TV and digital advertising activity running until the end of next month in support of its launch.

The campaign is being pitched as a movement, with strong play on sense of team and battle. Following the launch, hosted by the Football League, the initial media activity has encouraged people to google ‘Men United vs Prostate Cancer’, which leads to a microsite on which they are asked to take a quiz, the results from which will inform the charity’s future campaigns and work.

The charity’s director of communications Vivienne Francis said “a very large percentage of the signings" are from people who have done the quiz, and then opt in to receive more information, begin campaigning on issues or fundraising for the cause. "As a health education and engagement platform, Men United has emphatically exceeded expectations, although we calculated that it would be a very effective way of reaching out to men,” she said.

Prostate Cancer UK said that the campaign hit its target in terms of ‘sign-ups’ within 48 hours of launch on 24 January, and reached 50,000 sign-ups by the end of its first week. The latest count on the website, which has minute-by-minute updates of who has just signed up, is that more than 64,900 have signed on to the campaign.

A spokeswoman for Prostate Cancer UK told civilsociety.co.uk: “The primary objective is engagement and to create a movement.  Last year, we raised awareness with the Sledgehammer campaign and this campaign is the development – moving from awareness to action.

"Men United is a conversation to help men to really engage with their own health, confront the risk of prostate cancer and take action.  We have to get the message out there about one of the UK’s biggest man killers, support men affected by it, and raise funds to find better tests and treatments for the future.

“By signing up, men can then use their voice, time or money – whatever they choose - to say they are a part of a growing team that’s taking action on men’s health.”

Keyline had pledged 50p per quiz completed to a maximum value of £25,000, and Prostate Cancer UK is now looking for other corporate partners to continue this support. While it is primarily an engagement campaign, the fundraising team - led by Mark Bishop - has developed donor journeys for those sign-ups who register interest in fundraising.

The advertising push for the launch of the campaign will include a 30-second TV advert, aired on Sky, ITV, Channel 4 and BT sport, a newspaper partnership with the Telegraph, a radio partnership with talkSPORT, outdoor advertising, a 50-second online advert as well as a pay-per-click digital promotion and social media campaign.

Prostate Cancer UK has enjoyed improved fortunes over the last few years as the main beneficiary of Movember in the UK. It Men United vs Prostate Cancer to a more masculine voice, and the Men United campaign has launched on the back of the charity’s Sledgehammer Fund which launched last January. Previous director of fundraising Seamus O’Farrell told civilsociety.co.uk the charity that the charity had to get itself and cause on the national radar before it could begin to really fundraise; “Until you’re on the national consciousness, you haven’t got a cat in hell’s chance,” he said.

• Read Mark Bishop on branding at Prostate Cancer UK and the charity sector more broadly in January's main feature for Fundraising, 'What makes a good charity brand?'.