PR Case Study: #Try20
When PHA Media was enlisted to support Living Streets’ National Walking Month 2016 and change the behaviour of the general public, particularly among the middle aged, the agency developed a #Try20 campaign which called on people to walk at least 20 minutes per day. The results? More than 450 pieces of coverage and a five-fold increase in pledges on the previous year.
Campaign: #Try20
Client: Living Streets
PR Team: PHA Media
Timing: May 2016
Objectives
PHA Media was tasked with creating a completely new campaign for National Walking Month 2016, which took place in May. The aim of the campaign was to bring about behaviour change among consumers, particularly those who are middle aged, and encourage them to think about introducing walking into their everyday lives to help aid a fitter and more active lifestyle by walking just 20 minutes a day.
For this, PHA also devised the #Try20 for use in all communication, increasing awareness of the benefits of walking and driving sign-ups to the charity online.
Outlined objectives included:
- To raise the profile of Living Streets and National Walking Month 2016, particularly among those in middle age.
- To clearly highlight the social, economic, health and environmental benefits of walking.
- To drive sign ups to the charity’s ‘pledge’ to take part in activity in May.
Strategy
In order to create an engaging, accessible campaign that would change behaviour and get people walking more on a daily basis, PHA ensured it created a tagline which would reflect this and present a clear call to action for use across marketing materials, social media, print, online and broadcast coverage.
#Try20 was devised to encapsulate the government’s recommendation to carry out 150 minutes of exercise per week – of which walking can form a part – (which roughly breaks down to 20 minutes per day) in a simple, memorable message.
In order to promote their message, PHA commissioned a survey of 1,000 UK adults to assess its attitudes towards walking and used the results to secure extensive national and regional coverage which got people talking about the campaign.
The team also used case studies, expert advice and creative ideas to place on-message pieces in key consumer titles for the target age group, including Red, Woman & Home and Essentials.
Results
The team secured 451 pieces of quality, on-message coverage throughout National Walking Month, frontloading coverage in the initial stages of the month to boost sign ups and contribute to greater numbers of people committing to #Try20 in May.
Coverage included national, regional, consumer and broadcast, all with clear mentions of Living Streets and the #Try20 campaign.
The campaign was mentioned on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio 2 Breakfast, Good Morning Britain, Sky News, The Times, the Daily Mail, and had features in lifestyle glossies, including OK!, Red and Woman & Home.
Some 7,200 people signed up to the supporter base and committed to #Try20 – representing more than a fivefold increase on the previous year.
Tanya Braun, comms and media manager at Living Streets, said: “This year’s National Walking Month is the most successful our charity has ever had in terms of media exposure. The message that PHA helped us to create and deliver gave people a simple and realistic daily goal, yet still enabled us to show people how walking can improve our lives, both individually and collectively.
“The initial media noise around the campaign was fantastic and created a real buzz at the beginning of May. This helped us to capture the interest and imagination of many more participants than we expected.”
Got a cracking campaign – with impressive results – that you’d like to showcase? If so, please email richard.odonnell@gorkana.com.
