2016 Bronze Best use of film and/or audio

Agency Arthur London

Client RSPB

Campaign summary

Save the wildlife in your own backyard

Campaign overview

The campaign needed to re-position RSPB as a charity for the conservation of the whole of nature - not just the protection of birds.

And it needed to engage a new, younger, family audience whilst remaining relevant to its core supporter base, and capture data in order to convert them to membership.

Strategy

The audience perceived nature as ‘over there’ in the countryside they visited occasionally: they didn’t see that it was around them in everyday life.

The campaign brought nature home for them, focusing on familiar species in decline in and around their gardens, and giving them an active role in protecting them.

There was a free guide to building a home for nature in their garden, creating a mechanic for data capture as well as a more immersive brand experience.

Over the last two years the narrative has moved on in three phases: Phase 1: establishing nature is under threat in peoples’ gardens. Phase 2: showing how nature thrives if we do our bit, and how everyone can get involved. Phase 3: demonstrating the proof, showing how real people are building homes for nature. It was a multi-channel media strategy with TV, supported by digital, with a heavy emphasis on social for amplification.

Creativity

Children are in awe of nature. The campaign sought to reconnect adults to how they once felt about nature’s wonders.

It showed how building a home for nature would benefit children. This addressed and was relevant to both the new audience and the core audience.

The work overcame the perception that conservation issues were insurmountable by showing how small actions make tangible differences.

The creative reflected the strategy phases: Phase 1: ‘Nature in your garden’ - a young girl wonders in her own garden. Phase 2: ‘Frog face’ - how creatures nest, breed and feed across adjacent gardens. Phase 3: ‘The home I built for nature’ - testimonial led, with a heavier emphasis on response generation. This was paired with a content rich email programme that delivered personalised content for people’s gardens. Building a home for nature is a shareable action, so the campaign generated a lot of user-generated content that drove reach as well as further social proofing.

Results

RSPB has successfully repositioned from a charity focused solely on birds to a conservation organisation for the whole of nature.

In doing so it has attracted a new and younger family orientated audience, which means it has brought a new cohort of people into the organisation. Importantly, into its supporter and membership base, future-proofing its financial support.

RSPB is now seen as a modern, accessible organisation - a brand that has relevance in people’s day-to-day lives and importantly, a brand for all nature lovers.

Team

Nick Spindler (Head of Brand Planning) • Lyndsay McMorrow (Creative Director) • Andy Kelleher (Creative Director) • David Fitzduff (Copy Writer) • Neil Bazell (Art Director) • Hannah Wright (Business Director) • Simon Haithwaite (Senior Account Manager) • Nicky Baker (Agency Producer)

Contributors

Royle Productions - Knucklehead - Outsider - Greatcoat Films (TV Production)