Case study – Objective: Education & understanding
Thames21 is a small charity responsible for the health of London’s river. It relies on volunteer work and therefore needed to raise awareness of both the charity and the issues it faces among Londoners.
Research showed that people viewed the Thames as more of an obstacle than a natural resource. They focus on going over it, or under it, rather than considering environmental factors.
In a bid to demonstrate how much the river varies in terms of health, the charity worked with the Environment Agency to take readings of the river. The data was used by MEC artificial intelligence to provide a simple, easy to understand status of the river.
Partnering with the London Evening Standard, the charity was able to publish a ’Thames Watch’ every day alongside the weather report. Print provided the perfect platform to reach readers who weren’t necessarily looking for or aware of the campaign, with a high impact placement. Post campaign, awareness among Londoners was up to a third, with 80% understanding the importance of the issue.
Key findings
- 1 in 3 Londoners have heard of Thames Pulse
- 8 in 10 Londoners said Thames Pulse is bringing attention to a worthwhile cause
- Thames21’s website saw a 44% increase in page views and a 108.5% increase in unique users
- Thames21’s Twitter account saw a 51.75% improvement in impressions and engagement rose by 25%
This campaign was great because the team had cottoned on to a genuinely human insight. It was something that we could all identify with.
Clare Chapman, head of planning, Maxus
