Creating a rise in blood pressure

Although medical Awareness Week campaigns are almost always very deserving of coverage, their sheer numbers in the media calendar can sometimes make them a difficult proposition. This is the reason why we needed to ensure that we had as much collateral as possible with which to attract media owners to this important subject and ensure that National Thrombosis Week 2006 stood out. Partners in Communication and Lifeblood were excellent in accepting our advice and in providing us with highly credible spokespeople and the all-important regional case studies. In addition, we were able to instantly grab the attention of the media by challenging the Governments statistics on the number of thrombosis deaths in the UK. This sort of controversial opening gambit can be used successfully if the client, as in this instance, has the courage of their convictions and the research to support the claim.

In a nutshell, the campaign aimed to raise awareness of thrombosis and the fact that it is the biggest preventable cause of hospital deaths in the UK. It also aimed to highlight some of the identification and prevention measures that most people are unaware of. Because there was a great deal of information to put across, it was suggested that the audio feature was used to talk in more detail about thrombosis and the aims of the National Awareness Week whilst the radio and television interviews would focus on the more hard hitting statistics and utilise the case studies where needed. This approach prevented any dilution of key messages and ensured that the spokespeople were able to focus on delivering a small number of vital messages within each interview. With a campaign of this kind it is crucial to separate news and feature content in order to ensure that the material fits the style of the programme in each case.

The campaign secured 4 pieces of television coverage with a total audience of over 3 million, 103 radio stations with a combined weekly reach of over 25 million and a reach of over 14 million from press and magazine coverage secured by Partners in Communication. We were delighted to have exceeded the expectations of the client who was kind enough to thank us for our work on this project:

To say that the media coverage that Natalie Jackson and her team obtained for our National Thrombosis Week campaign (NTW) was exceptional does not do justice to what markettiers4dc actually achieved – it was beyond our wildest dreams…. From the moment the initial brief was received, markettiers4dc gave us excellent advice and guidance on how to pitch the campaign to help us attain the maximum coverage.  And at times, when we tried to add our own ‘spin’ to the broadcast approach, your professional advice remained firm –  and in hindsight we’re obviously pleased it did! …. So thank you markettiers4dc, you should be very proud of what you have achieved – we already have evidence that the radio interviews have had an impact and are saving lives’.
– Jacqui Marr, Lifeblood