Block the Sun, Not the Fun

North West Cancer Research

  • Creative
  • Public relations
  • Digital marketing
  • Insight

Brief

Faced with alarming statistics that the North West’s skin cancer rates exceed the national average by 13%, North West Cancer Research briefed us to increase awareness and encourage sun safety practices across the region, with a focus on families.

Challenge

Whenever the sun comes out in the UK, the public are inundated with messages on how best to protect themselves from the high temperatures. We needed to identify a new angle to help our campaign stand out and to have maximum impact.

We gathered insight that, while parents were very good at protecting their children from the sun’s harmful rays, they often neglected to protect themselves.

We wanted to change this by engaging parents to drive home the vital message of sun safety for all.

During research interviews with our target demographic, we discovered a striking contrast in attitudes towards sun protection: while parents consistently prioritise their children’s sun safety, they often neglected their own.

We developed a fun, message-driven campaign that centred on a newsroom setting, but with children taking on the grown-up roles.

We enlisted local children as on-screen presenters, transforming them into experts who passionately encouraged adults to “block the sun, not the fun.”

Solution

The
Solution

Results

The results were captivating and playful campaign videos designed to grab parents’ attention and make them rethink their sun protection habits. Our young ‘reporters’ took on various roles – acting as roving reporters, weather presenters, and news anchors – to deliver a dynamic breaking news story.

We achieved 14 pieces of coverage across key titles in the charity’s target areas, including the full video being played on BBC North West Tonight.

The targeted digital campaign delivered nearly 1 million impression and received 450,000 views from parents across the North West.

To extend engagement, the charity visited four attractions over the summer to meet and educate 8,000 children and parents. The campaign was also fed into North West Cancer Research’s school engagement programme, delivered to more than 20,000 pupils across the region.

14

pieces of coverage across key media titles including BBC North West Tonight

450K

digital views

8K

children and parents engaged with, to hand out leaflets and samples

20K

children the Sun Safety programme was delivered to, across the North West in the past 12 months

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