A two-year behaviour change communications campaign encouraging Greater Manchester residents to move more to improve their health has been recognised at an international level.
The public outreach campaign That Counts!, of which Intelligent Conversation leads the PR and social media strands, made it onto the hotly-contested shortlisted for the global communications industry’s international effectiveness awards, run by industry body AMEC.
The awards celebrate communications campaigns that deliver tangible results and measurable change. That Counts! was shortlisted in the ‘Most effective planning, research and evaluation in the public and not-for-profit sectors’ category.
The integrated campaign was developed with partner agencies Access (branding and creative), Republic of Media (media buying) and Planning Express (insight and measurement).
It aims to change the perceptions, intentions and behaviour of residents across the city region around the issue of physical activity.
After just three months, research showed the campaign had already made a difference:
- One in 10 people spontaneously recalled seeing That Counts! In all, a quarter of GM residents recall seeing at least one of the ads.
- After being shown the advertising, 87% of people agreed with the statement ’30 minutes of activity each day has many benefits to my health’
- Before launch, 26% of people said they were inactive; that dropped to 22% three months later. After the launch, 74% agreed with the statement ‘I’m going to try to be more active each day’, including 68% who are inactive.
The judges commented: ‘A thoughtful response to a contemporary social issue informed by clever insights and effective use of the AMEC integrated framework… Comprehensive, multi-channel advertising and PR campaign, very solid results, reaching the majority of the target audience.’
You can find out more about the campaign here.