Posted:

18 Mar 2018

Spreckley delivers bowel cancer awareness campaign for BMI Healthcare

The client

In-line with bowel cancer awareness month, BMI Healthcare wanted to raise awareness of the symptoms of the UK’s second biggest cancer killer and help to diminish some of the taboos surrounding the topic.

The goals

Spreckley was tasked with producing a PR campaign to raise awareness on the topic, with the ultimate goal of driving the public to a dedicated information portal. BMI identified key regions and sought a campaign that worked on a national level, as well as in the target regions of Manchester, London and Birmingham.

Spreckley recommended a number of tactics to ensure BMI’s messaging would cut through the noise. The campaign involved:

  • Securing, managing and maximising a celebrity endorsement
  • Executing a research project in order to generate new and interesting statistics on the topic
  • Creating patient case studies
  • Amplifying BMI’s affiliation with a bowel cancer charity
  • On-going media relations throughout the awareness month

Spreckley managed the creation of the research, focusing on the public’s awareness of bowel cancer, its signs, and its symptoms. The statistics delivered through this project proved to be a fantastic PR tool, highlighting how the large majority of the British public were not confident in spotting the signs of bowel cancer. Spreckley was also able to yield regional specific statistics for more targeted pitching.

A celebrity endorsement contract with Sharron Davies MBE – the former British Olympic swimmer – was also managed by Spreckley. As someone who’s passionate about the impact of leading a healthy lifestyle, Sharron was keen to raise awareness of some of the causes of bowel cancer and its symptoms.

Real-life patient case studies are one of the most powerful tools in consumer healthcare PR, enabling audiences to become strongly engaged with a story. As such, Spreckley leveraged two uplifting patient stories to help raise awareness of bowel cancer’s symptoms.

Following the success of the bowel cancer campaign, BMI Healthcare appointed Spreckley for further specialist projects.

The achievements

National coverage

Over 20 dedicated pieces of coverage were generated for BMI Healthcare, including in national newspapers, regional targets, consumer health titles and on the radio.

The Telegraph case study

Case study coverage secured with The Telegraph.

Research coverage

Each piece of coverage referenced either the research findings or the celebrity affiliation, with some referencing both.

Magazine front cover

Front page coverage was secured within a target regional glossy magazine.

Target audience

Engaged over 355,000 of the desired target audience.

Overwhelming YouTube views

The PR campaign contributed towards over 316,000 views of BMI Healthcare’s ‘Be bowel cancer aware’ YouTube video and over 7,000 downloads of the free guide.

Leads for BMI

It also aided 399 leads into BMI’s national enquiry centre and directly delivered 95 appointments into the hospitals.