Red for Heart Campaign

Been a while since I last did this...here goes!


As part of an assignment, I did some research into the CIPR awards for the Home Counties South region. This years winners were all extremely good in their own rights, but it was the "Red for Heart" campaign, run by the British Heart Foundation that caught my eye.


In order to explain why this campaign won the gold award and determine the elements of best practice, I looked at each section and picked out what I think made it the best - I look forward to hearing whether or not you agree.


The "Red for Heart" campaign was run to increase public awareness of national heart month in its second year, an event that was set up in 2009 by the BHF. 

The main objectives of the “Red for Heart” campaign were:

·         To build a larger profile for National Heart Month , to be held in February 2010

·         To contribute to meeting national fundraising targets of £1.5 million

·         To build relationships and connect with regional media across the South

It's fairly simple and broad strategy was to build the profile for both British Heart Foundation and National Heart Month in the South, whilst also raising funds for the charity.

In order to complete this, they did a number of different things:

• Press releases were issued to freelance journalists and regional press across the South in September 2009, prior to National Heart Month 2010
• 
  

  On February 1^st, the first day of National Heart Month; press launches were held at national landmarks across the South. These played upon a creative idea whereby landmark buildings including Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower were “turned red” with red lighting to promote the cause across the UK. This was used as an excellent photo opportunity for the media and also served as a stunt to mark the launch of National Heart Month.

d Day” as a key focal point in National Heart Month. They encouraged people to wear red clothing in support of the cause, raising not only awareness but also funds through donations on this day.

The British Heart Foundation also nominated February 26^th as “Wear Re

A “love notes” idea was used to encourage people to write down why they were supporting the British Heart Foundation. These were posted in British Heart Foundation stores around the UK. A number of celebrities including Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne created their own love notes in support of the campaign, giving a more media-worthy angle on the idea.

2010’s National Heart Month also served as a way for the British Heart Foundation to launch their BEAT code, a short sharp guide to having a healthy heart:

   Be Active

    Eat Healthily

   Avoid Smoking

   Take the lifestyle check

These tactics produced some excellent results, smashing their targets from the first year:

• The “Red for Heart” campaign received 269 pieces of regional coverage in the South
• They were also able to secure 20 pieces of broadcast coverage on major regional radio stations
• 
  

  This coverage combined amounted to an AVE of £225,579, which was a substantial increase compared to the previous year’s AVE of £206,262.
• 
  

  There were also  nearly 16 million opportunities to see the campaign just in the South and East regions

A great PR campaign with some excellent results - no doubt about it. But what about that ll important phrase, "best practice" - well here's why I think it deserved to win:

The “Red for Heart” campaign managed to utilised their following on popular social media websites Facebook and Twitter, despite it not being integral part of the campaign. They used these methods of communication to successfully inform their stakeholders of upcoming fundraising events and important health information, rather than using them simply as a method of promoting one message repeatedly over the month-long campaign.

The campaign also demonstrated how a campaign can successfully deliver a huge return on investment with an almost non-existent budget. The campaign was run by one staff member relying solely on PR, with no advertising and marketing budget to run alongside.

However - much as I think this was great, I have my own reccommendations for making it better.

  In time, the BHF could make use of an opportunity to take National Heart Month to an international audience.

The BHF could also look to use further celebrity endorsement with more media-friendly celebrities, which may make the campaign more appealing.

SO! Thats what I have to say...what about you?

Find out more here: http://www.bhf.org.uk/

Ethical trading - do you care where it comes from?

Bananas, coffee, chocolate...you name it, they've fairtraded it.

Fairtrade products are all over our shops. The question is - does anyone actually buy them? Is it worth the extra money to know the person that picks your fruit gets a decent wage? I can't say I personally favour fairtrade products over any other item in a supermarket, but am I in the minority?

Fairtrade as we know it was born in 1992, when a collection of charities came together with one common aim - "to work with businesses, community groups and individuals to improve the trading positions of producer organisations".

I'm not going to waffle on about the basics themselves, but if you're interested you can read all about how fairtrade came about here:
http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/fairtrade_foundation.aspx

What I'm more concerned with is whether we consider it important, or just another extra cost.

Ethical trading has made the headlines since I can remember, with the cases of Gap, Nike and Primark causing the biggest stir. The nation was shocked and appauled at how these factory workers were being treated and the conditions they were forced to work in. Did we stop shopping there? Not a chance.

It seems that ethical trading isfor many, an important issue - but not as important as a cheap pair of shoes.

In an ideal world every product on the market would be ethically sourced, but in reality we are a generation of bargain hunters (blame the recession!) and we generally want something for as cheap as we can get it.

In a time when we don't have money to burn, is an extra 75p for some coffee really feasible? Do we think about the underpaid farmers working 18-hour days while we wait in the Starbucks queue? Or do we just go for the usual skinny latte regardless of where it has come from?

Much as I would love to be able to afford products from ethical suppliers, I am a long way off that sort of budget. For me, cheap is cheerful. And it may sound strange but with any spare money I can donate, I would much rather pop a couple of pound in a charity box than buy anything fairtrade. It just feels more like I've "done my bit" for those in need.

You might agree with me - you might not.

It's the job of The Fairtrade Foundation to make you reach for those fairtrade packets on the shelf.

Watch this and let me know if your opinions changed?

Source: www.fairtrade.org.uk/resources/films/coffee_uganda.aspx

Binge drinking....a slippery slope or just media hype?

It's reported almost daily now:

"British teenagers binge drinking champions of Europe"

"Ladette binge drinking violence soars by 300% in just seven years"

"Binge drinking epidemic increases as alcohol related A&E admissions soar"

But is this so-called binge drinking culture just a phenomenon made up by the media, or a growing problem in society? And just who is to blame?

Binge drinking - for an average sized female such as myself is defined as "drinking more than six units of alcohol, equivalent to two large glasses of wine. "

Now I might be wrong, but I'd say about 80% of women I know do this every weekend - including myself! 2 glasses of wine - hardly enough to get drunk yet classed as dangerous to yourself and those around you.

From a young age, at every big celebration I have watched the wine flow and everyone enjoy themselves without any complaints. But now, thanks to such intense media focus, it seems that having two glasses of wine turns women into "ladettes" and god forbid that men have three pints and turn into brawling idiots.

Countless things are apparently to blame for causing this "binge drinking nation" - bars and shops providing cheap alcohol and the 24 hour licensing laws come out top of the list.

We (and by we, I mean the media and the blame culture we live in) seem to have forgotten that people are able to exercise self control. If I want to go out have a few drinks, I can. But on those nights I choose to go out and get blind drunk - I know exactly what I'm doing. That's why you see those people lining up the shots on the bar at the beginning of their night, because they WANT to get drunk.

Getting drunk is a conscious decision - we have the ability to say yes or no when being offered a drink, but the media portrays us as mindless youths who are incapable of looking after ourselves.

Regrettably there are a few of those people around, and believe me I'm not saying it is okay for you to drink your life away down at the S.U, but you cannot tar everyone with the same brush. Putting someone who has a few glasses of wine and a chat with some friends in the same category as a vodka-downing tutu-wearing stumbling mess is hardly a fair deal.

The blame should lie solely with the person doing the drinking. My mum always said "Self inflicted illness doesn't get sympathy." It shouldn't have excuses made for it either.

And if still you're going to blame someone else - blame the media themselves!! Skins-type programmes are the ultimate in showing teens how to drink and take drugs, often without showing the repercussions.

So let's stop moaning about a glass of wine too many and enjoy ourselves while we can - most of us have already grown out of the all-night drinking stage and would much rather remember our evening than wake up covered in ketchup after falling asleep in our chips.

And for those of you that haven't realised yet -that hangover in the morning will teach you all you need to know about not drinking so much.

A work in progress...

Unfortunately, I am yet to sit down and start a proper blog - however, I do want to let you all know I am here, waving my hands in the air and screaming for attention.

Hopefully, with all fingers crossed - this blog will serve as a place for me to rant and pick apart any PR I find interesting and probably the stuff I find awful too.

In the meantime guys, thanks for visiting and I'll be with you with something more interesting soon!

Tina x