London's Air Ambulance Charity

Creating their first-ever integrated DRTV and digital fundraising campaign

Using our Breakthrough technique, we collaborated closely throughout a rigorous process to create a powerful new approach.

Pitching a process, not a script

WPNC believed that the strongest possible solution for this new integrated campaign could only be uncovered through close collaboration with the client. London’s Air Ambulance Charity recognised the potential in this process and a creative partnership was set in motion.

One of the unique aspects of WPNC’s approach is the initial Breakthrough session. This brings together people from all across the client organisation to share crucial insights and help uncover unique solutions. So, besides the senior fundraising team, the session was attended by the charity’s CEO, doctors and paramedics.

By combining all these different perspectives we were able to identify a proposition with real potential. “When critical injuries can’t wait” summed up the urgency of the charity’s work, arriving at every life-threatening emergency inside the M25 within just 11 minutes.

Making the campaign fly, from concept to reality

The proposition was just the start, though. WPNC then explored it in depth, identifying five possible territories which were then expressed as nearly 20 adcepts - static initial ads set out as headline, copy and call to action.

Next these adcepts were whittled down by a joint agency and client team to just three, which were turned into filmcepts for research. Crucially, these were tested using WPNC’s bespoke research tool, Response Insight. Some 3,000 Londoners viewed each filmcepts and a benchmark control video. Very soon, a clear winner emerged: “Every second counts.”

But we didn’t just set out to uncover which worked best; we also collected valuable new consumer insights. Not least of which was that many people were previously unaware London’s Air Ambulance Charity relies on donations; and that at least one in 10 knew someone who had been treated by the service. All of this information was fed into the campaign.

How a starring medical team got the ad off the ground

To make the DRTV film as realistic as possible, we asked the charity’s Chief Pilot Neil Jeffers and a crew of paramedics to star in a simulation of one of the five emergency call-outs they make every day of the year. Neil also handles the voiceover, as the team are shown rushing to an emergency trauma situation.

The result is a powerful DRTV ad, three separate Facebook films that are already producing promising results, and online carousel and banner executions, including retargeted ads.

The campaign has also caught the eye of the media, with the launch featured in Charity Digital Newsand Decision Marketing, among others.