British Chiropractic Association – Straighten up UK
Campaign Objective
‘Straighten up UK’ was the campaign that Publicasity wanted to deliver to the nation during Chiropractic Awareness Week, a campaign originally developed by Publicasity in 2005 on behalf of the British Chiropractic Association (BCA).
Having devised a simple three minute exercise called Straighten Up UK with the BCA, we wanted to see the population adopt this routine into their daily lives in a quest to improve our posture and maintain healthy spines.
Using the BCA’s annual Chiropractic Awareness Week as the platform to launch the initiative, our objectives were to educate consumers on the prevalence of back pain and the dangers of bad posture. Raising awareness of the exercise routine and providing a call to action was key to all activity.
As a non profit organisation, budget is limited and PR is the only marketing tool utilised so it needs to deliver a clear ROI.
Campaign strategy
Our aim was to ensure that the Awareness Week resonated with the public at all relevant touch points. By utilising online, print, broadcast, stunts and digital activity we were guaranteed to create and deliver a big splash launch of the Straighten Up UK message and longevity of media pick up.
Tactics and results
Before we could launch ‘Straighten Up UK’ (SUUK) we needed to assess the state of the nation’s posture. We commissioned market research looking at who was suffering from back pain and attitudes towards bad posture.
Having analysed the data, the results showed that over 50% of 16-24 year olds were currently suffering back pain and that the UK was indeed a nation of ‘Slouch Potatoes’. The BCA provided comment on the physical impact of bad posture and we called upon Robert Phipps, a behavioural expert, to comment on emotional perceptions of bad posture. The story was sold into media and print exclusives were set up in the Daily Mail (16th April) and YOU magazine (15th April).
On Monday 16th April we launched with a TV interview on BBC Breakfast featuring a real-life slouch potato, and a morning of back-to-back radio interviews with both a BCA spokesperson and Robert Phipps reaching a huge volume of regional and national stations.
‘Flash Events’ were organised to take place in high footfall & media locations. A SUUK hit squad was despatched where they demonstrated the three minute exercise at train stations, outside publishing houses, by tourist traps and most notably behind Fern and Phil as they were doing an outside broadcast for ITV’s This Morning. Two further flash events were organised in Bournemouth on 18th and Cardiff on 20th April. Leaflets showing the exercises were handed out.
The PR campaign importantly included a vodcast, which introduced SUUK and demonstrated the routine in an easy to follow way, using both adults and children, this was made available to download on the SUUK website, alongside PDFs of leaflets. And all activity directed traffic to the website. (screengrab of vodcast on website here
Additionally the BCA also offered free ‘posture check ups’ in clinics nationwide in return for a donation to The Children’s Trust charity, who have multiple disabilities and complex health needs. A press toolkit was made available to all 1300 BCA chiropractors so they could execute PR on a local level.
Outcome & Results
- £630,599 worth of media coverage – spanning national, regional print and broadcast continuing until September 2007
- Campaign reach of 53,998,551
- 8,603 downloads of SUUK leaflets
- Over 100,000 requests for leaflets
- Number of visits to the specific page the vodcast is on: 46,015 to date
- Hits to the website increased by over 50%
Relation to Objectives & Cost Effectiveness
The objectives of raising awareness of the exercise and providing a call to action were both achieved. A reach of over 53 million and an overall 28 return on investment.
