Case study – Objective: Prompt action
It’s rare that the words ‘cancer’ and ‘good news’ are found together. Cancer Research UK wanted to change this and highlight the amazing progress made in the fight against cancer; one in two now survive the disease, but that’s an advancement that is rarely heard of. By celebrating the small wins in the lives of cancer patients, as well as the big wins in terms of overall survival rates, CRUK aimed to simultaneously inspire people, make them feel more positive towards the charity and demonstrate how donating can make a difference.
A month long editorial partnership with Reach Solutions focused on ‘good news happening right now’ via the Daily Mirror, Daily Record and 15 regional titles. The activity was launched with a full-page editor’s letter by Mirror editor-in-chief Lloyd Embley.
Weekly themes were detailed on page two of the Daily Mirror, while the partnership also took over regular pages such as ‘Dr Miriam Stoppard’ and ‘Dear Coleen’. Regional titles replicated the content as well as adding in local good news stories and area specific stats.
Digitally, the Mirror’s first party data analysis tool was used to identify good news stories that were surging on the homepage and socially, so that CRUK’s content could be placed at the heart of them; generating 3.9 million page views.
Most importantly, the campaign succeeded in changing people’s perceptions of cancer with 85% feeling more positive about CRUK, 83% more optimistic about the outlook for cancer patients and 81% left feeling that their donations would make a difference.
Cancer Research UK and MediaCom partnered with Reach Solutions to turn common assumptions around cancer and news on their head. The editorial integration to show ‘good news happening right now’ was a great way to demonstrate creativity, an innovative use of content and data for a great cause.
Alessandra Bellini, chief customer officer, Tesco
