Objectives
Melanoma UK needed to raise awareness about the organisation, the life-threatening skin cancers it helps sufferers battle, and re-emphasise the dangers of using commercial sun beds, working towards a total UK-wide ban.
Smoking Gun’s team of press and publicity experts were drafted to deliver the following specific objectives in order for the organisation to meet its overall goals:
*Generate digital and print column inches to bring the Melanoma UK name to the fore of the public’s conscious
*Cement Melanoma UK as Britain’s go-to charity for melanoma and patient issues
*Increase the exposure of the anti-sun bed message
*Boost petition signatures in the bid to promote an outright ban on sun beds
Strategy & Plan
While clearly the issue of melanoma is incredibly sensitive and highly evocative, in order to secure high profile press coverage we knew that real life case studies— humanising this deadly disease— would be needed.
While subjects were understandably difficult to locate due to the personal nature of the subject, Smoking Gun sourced, interviewed and drafted features with three individuals who had suffered or were currently undergoing treatment for melanoma.
These included both first hand accounts of how their lifestyle and behaviour may have contributed to the condition, experiences before and after diagnosis, and shock imagery offering a visual example of how devastating the illness can be.
Working with Gillian Nuttall, founder of Melanoma UK, we created additional advisory articles containing top tips for protecting skin against damaging UVA and UVB rays. We also interviewed her and drafted a long-form feature on the background of the charity.
Measurement & Evaluation
The results of our efforts on behalf of Melanoma UK were analysed in accordance with the client’s original brief and relevant KPIs.
Results
Smoking Gun’s work for Melanoma UK produced:
*14 pieces of press coverage
*11,442,947 total media reach
*31% of coverage included a URL link to either the Melanoma UK website or sun bed petition
*100% of coverage included key messages regarding the ban
*6,501 additional petition signatures
*1,900 online online campaign mentions
*14,400 brand engagements online
