The Kidney Wales led Donate Wales campaign scooped a full house of awards at the prestigious CIPR Cymru PRide Awards, held in Mercure Holland House Hotel, Cardiff on October 15th. The prestigious event, which is a highlight of the PR calendar, celebrates excellence in the PR and Communications industry in Wales and sets benchmarks for industry standards.
Having teamed up with Cardiff-based PR agency, Freshwater, Kidney Wales won two out of two gold awards for best not-for-profit and best integrated campaign for the innovative hard hitting Donate Wales campaign to encourage people to join the Organ Donor Register.
The campaign featured real patients who are waiting for transplants and compared their wait to being on Wales’s Invisible Death Row.
In order to maximise the campaigns reach and impact, a fully integrated marketing campaign was put together. Case-study led-media relations, social media, advertising, direct mail, Bluetooth technology, website development and stakeholder engagement all ensured the best results for the campaign.
During the campaign, the advert was picked up by Sky News, which featured it throughout its bulletins, while a double page spread was secured in The Sun and three quarters of a page in The Observer. Campaign leaflets and posters were even used in popular teen soap-opera, Hollyoaks.
As a direct result of the Wales’s Invisible Death Row campaign, 2,500 additional people joined the organ donor register in Wales compared with same period the previous year, with a 658% increase on website hits. A sustained high-profile debate on opt-out led to the Welsh Assembly Government announcing it would introduce opt-out organ donation.
Judges commented that the Donate Wales campaign had “superb results, far exceeding the clients’ expectations, (a) well targeted and executed campaign, in which objectives were thoroughly thought through and clearly outlined.” Judges also highlighted that the campaign’s “inspiring use of social networks, the internet and bluetooth ensured the younger audience was reached effectively.” Finally, it was recognised that “the Government was won over and lives will be saved thanks to this campaign. No other outcome is important.”
Matt Appleby, Chair of CIPR Wales, said: “The CIPR PRide Awards recognise and reward the thriving PR profession from across the UK. They help to celebrate the importance of demonstrating the value of what we, as public relations professionals, do and the positive impact this profession has on all aspects of business. Being named as a CIPR PRide Award winner is a fantastic achievement and I congratulate all of this year’s winners.”
Roy Thomas, Chairman of Donate Wales said: “I am extremely grateful to the teams at Kidney Wales and Freshwater for delivering such a successful campaign. However the project’s success was dependant on the participation of the fantastic patient case studies that brought the hard hitting message to life and highlighted the reality of their agonising wait for organs.”
Not only was the evening a PR success, it also proved to be a fundraising success with over £1000 being raised for Kidney Wales.The Kidney Wales led Donate Wales campaign scooped a full house of awards at the prestigious CIPR Cymru PRide Awards, held in Mercure Holland House Hotel, Cardiff on October 15th. The prestigious event, which is a highlight of the PR calendar, celebrates excellence in the PR and Communications industry in Wales and sets benchmarks for industry standards.
Having teamed up with Cardiff-based PR agency, Freshwater, Kidney Wales won two out of two gold awards for best not-for-profit and best integrated campaign for the innovative hard hitting Donate Wales campaign to encourage people to join the Organ Donor Register.
The campaign featured real patients who are waiting for transplants and compared their wait to being on Wales