Advertiser: Macmillan Cancer Support
Agency: Zenith
Winner: Best content partnership (up to £250,000 media investment)
Challenge
Macmillan Cancer Support relies on legacy gifts to fund frontline services. While legacies are discussed at the kitchen table, good intentions often do not lead to tangible action. To turn intention into action and encourage gifts in wills, Macmillan needed to stimulate actions that predict pledges, such as guide orders and sign-ups to their free will service. Prompting an older and more affluent audience into action would require engaging human stories that both prove impact and earn trust.
Approach
People intend to sort out their will but often avoid it until a moment makes mortality feel real. Macmillan discovered that moment is often found on print newspaper ‘register’ pages or during a reflective weekend read. The charity’s opportunity was to join the dots between where people contemplate legacies and how to act. When people read the ‘register’, the will becomes real — and so does the chance to help.
Macmillan’s approach was to place human stories inside The Times’ ‘register’ to engage with people at a critical moment. These stories would be respectful and make action effortless through QR/URL links to Macmillan’s free will service and guide.
The partnership — print-led, with light digital support — focussed on three key editorial platforms. Four half-page obituaries featuring Macmillan legacy donors ran in The Times ‘register’. Four double-page case studies about ‘The Chain of Giving’ were published in The Times Magazine. Finally, a four-page cover wrap ran with The Times Weekend, featuring a talent-led interview focussed on care and legacy and why it matters. Premium native articles and instant experiences mirrored these stories online.
Results
The campaign produced strong recall among The Times’ readers. 52% of readers recalled at least one element of the campaign, with print recall being 53% in The Times Weekend and 43% in The Times Magazine.
Importantly, Macmillan’s campaign saw 67% of its target audience say it was likely to consider leaving a charitable gift. Better still, 72% of people who recalled two or more elements of the campaign took some form of direct action. Specifically, 7% registered for the free will service and 6% ordered the ‘Gifts in Wills’ guide.
