Bloggers' best of 2013: British Red Cross legacy campaign

10 Jan 2014 Voices

Looking back at the year that was, Fundraising asked top bloggers in the sector to describe their favourite campaigns of 2013. Stephen George went for the British Red Cross' legacy campaign.

Looking back at the year that was, Fundraising asked top bloggers in the sector to describe their favourite campaigns of 2013. Stephen George went for the British Red Cross' legacy campaign. 

The British Red Cross legacy advertising campaign was a bold investment driven by insight, evidence and good old-fashioned faith. The campaign, aimed at baby-boomers to encourage gifts in wills, focused on the Red Cross’s work abroad and in the UK. The six-week campaign was built around a television advert featuring a man describing what he is leaving to whom in his will, at the end of which he says: “In my will I leave a gift to the British Red Cross to help people in crisis, whoever they are in the UK or abroad, with a commitment that they will not be ignored.” It features a montage of familiar clips of work abroad, and at home. The ad aired on ITV1 was accompanied by radio, broadsheet, magazine, digital and social media. The rationale for the campaign was to engage a new generation, away from the traditional audience, influenced through the war. A halo effect suggests it will help both.

The message is spot on. Research from Remember a Charity and the NSPCC showed that donors are comfortable with a message that gets the right barriers addressed: family and friends first, and a small share of what’s left to your favourite charity. This core insight has had a profound effect of getting people to consider a gift. It resonates with people, explains it and supports a change in behaviour – where a campaign like this needs to sit. Its bold ask of 1 per cent is a step forward. Research a few years ago showed a suggested figure wasn’t appreciated, but this shows this is changing and charities’ appetite is strengthening. Alongside this, the Red Cross makes clear that wider metrics matter – consideration, propensity, awareness, enquiries and direct response.

The campaign covers all the right bases. It shows need now and in the future, mixes channels, maximizes a conversation through social media and direct response, appeals to a wider audience, doesn’t shy away from specifics. Above all it has inspiration at its heart – “a commitment that they will not be ignored”. Nice.

It’s not the first of its kind but it’s brave, bold and much needed across the sector. Taking a step with insight that’s matched with faith is all too rare these days. The Red Cross has done something powerful in this campaign and it’s up to others to find their faith.

 

Stephen George is interim executive director of fundraising and marketing at Action on Hearing Loss. He blogs at stevewg.wordpress.com 

Other bloggers’ favourite campaigns were:

Bristol Children’s Hospital’s Gromit Unleashed by Lucy Calidcott
Cancer Research UK’s Dryathlon by Lisa Clavering
Friends of the Earth’s Bee Cause by Craig Linton
World Cancer Research Fund annual campaign by Mark Phillips

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