SmokeFree South West create ads encouraging people to only smoke outside

Smokefree South West, an organisation funded by 14 local PCTs, has launched an ad encouraging people to take their smoking habits outdoors by highlighting the risks that smoking inside has on children. An education piece, the ad will run across the South West area in conjunction with National Family Week and National Child Safety week (w/c 23rd May).

Watch the ad here.

Source: Brand Republic

Twitter helps Amnesty International

Historically, Amnesty International has been all about letter-writing – but these days they’ve started using Twitter to great effect: they created a hashtag – #FreeFaizan – to try and get a teenager who had been unlawfully detained, released; and by tweeting directly at the governor in charge, they got their result.

Faizan was freed, primarily because the governor was forced to reconsider his decision.

Insight

• A brief look into the power social media can give to individuals and organisations. Proof that you can have an actual conversation on these platforms.
• Also interesting to see an organisation with a reputation for tradition getting involved in such an innovative environment.

Cancer charity works on Wikipedia

Cancer Research UK is worried that Wikipedia is providing inaccurate information about cancer to a wide audience, and has set its specialists to work to clean up the mistakes. With Wikipedia telling the BBC that it had over 3.5 million hits on cancer-related pages in January alone, this seems a very worthwhile endeavour.

BT launches charitable giving website

BT has recently launched their own giving website, MyDonate, which will compete with sites such as JustGiving and Virgin Money Giving.

What's different about MyDonate is that they will not charge the charity a subscription fee or take a commission on the donation. Instead the only charges that will be deducted from donations will be the credit card fees.

Charities such as Cancer Research UK and NSPCC have been involved in the process of developing the new site.

MyDoante is open to all UK-registered charities and the fundraising pages are fully customisable and link to social network sites such as facebook and twitter.

The chief executive of BT, Ian Livingston, said: "We've launched MyDonate because we want to ensure that 100 per cent of people's fantastic fundraising efforts and donations go to the charities of their choice."

Which charities are advertising in the national press (April 4th)?

Christian Aid continues its campaign calling for donations in The Times, The Independent and The Daily Telegraph on the 4 of April.

The ad calls on people to go online to a campaign specific site (http://www.povertyover.com/) to learn about Christian Aid’s Manifesto For Change and to donate to make a difference.

Insight

• A very strong campaign specific site with a unique and very slick hero image/video which tells quite a striking storyof poverty over the last 200 years.
• Branding of the microsite is consistent with the branding on the advert across the papers, strengthening the message.
• High levels of interactivity and social network implementation with 2 click to share mechanisms on Facebook & Twitter available.

The Guardian; The charity also makes an impact with an ad in The Guardian in place of the paper's usual centrefold editorial image. The ad, which takes on the style of the editorial, shows children working in a mine.

Insight

• Although distant in terms of brand and message integration the ad creates a significant impact in a high interest spot within the newspaper.
• This will seek to not only drive awareness of the charity but effectively displays one of these ‘roots’ to poverty the other ads focus on.

Sean Lock plays dodgy landlord in Shelter film

Housing charity Shelter has released a humorous film starring comedian Sean Lock to raise awareness of the dangers posed by unscrupulous private landlords.

Sean Lock: the unscrupulous landlord in Shelter's latest campaign

The five-minute film, on the charity's Facebook page, was conceived by Amplify and also features 'Green Wing' and 'The Office' actors Oliver Chris and Sally Bretton.

It depicts a scene where a rogue landlord is showing prospective tenants around a grotty and dangerous property, oblivious to any problems it could pose to them.

The film was produced by Irresistible Films and directed by Chris Faith.

Shelter is hoping the film leads people to sign a petition on its Facebook page that forms part of its campaign to highlight problems with a minority of landlords in the private rented sector.

The charity has seen overall complaints about landlords increase by 23% over the past 12 months, with specific issues including shocking levels of dampness and disrepair and harassment.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: "Despite the amusing script and characters, the fact is that the horrifying conditions shown in the film are a reality for thousands of people in this country.

"It's frightening to see that complaints about bad landlords are increasing at such a rate, at the very time that renting a home is fast becoming the only option for thousands of families across this country. It appears that rogue landlords are cashing in on this growing market.

"With Government policy directing more vulnerable people towards the private rented sector, it seems entirely negligent of the housing minister to have not yet produced any clear commitment to clamp down on rogue landlords."

Source; Brand Republic

Facebook users to lend status updates to African mothers

An awareness and fundraising campaign by BBH for an African health development charity is appealing for Facebook and Twitter users to share their accounts with people in Africa for five days.

Amref: BBH creates Facebook campaign for the African charity

Timed to coincide Mother's Day in the UK, the project gives six women a voice to raise awareness of Amref's mission to train midwives and health workers to lower unnecessary deaths among pregnant women in Africa.

The women include two mothers, a midwife and an orphanage worker, based in countries including Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.

BBH has created an app that allows Facebook or Twitter users to share their account with one of the women and update their status twice a day with a message from the woman.

One of the last updates will encourage people to make a donation and link to a dedicated page that explains how small amounts of money can help buy bikes and shawls printed with health messages while £250 could train a midwife.

The 'Status of Africa' campaign is supported by businesswoman Tamara Mellon and actress Fay Ripley.

The charity first ran a status update campaign by BBH last year and has timed this campaign to coincide with Mother's Day. Last year around 1,600 people lent their status.

In addition it hopes to run campaigns in France, the Netherlands, the US and Canada to coincide with those countries' Mother's Days.

BBH works with the charity on a pro bono basis

Source; Brand Republic