Energising supporters with a refreshed campaign proposition

The Brain Tumour Charity is spearheading the drive for investment into world-class research to discover better treatments, reduce diagnosis times, and ultimately find a cure for brain tumours – the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40. They needed help developing a new campaign concept to meet their fundraising target.

Manifesto were asked by The Brain Tumour Charity to develop a new campaign concept as part of their ongoing #WearItOut proposition. Wear It Out, which uses the symbol of the bandana – an accessory which has a long-term association with brain tumours – to raise both awareness and funds during Brain Tumour Awareness month, relies on supporter-organised fundraising events and merchandise sales. The fundraising target for the 2018 campaign was £150,000 – an amount which would make a real difference to the lives of those affected by a brain tumour.

What we did

We first immersed ourselves in the #WearItOut proposition, working with the team at The Brain Tumour Charity to analyse the successes, constraints and challenges of previous years’ campaigns to generate possible approaches.

We aimed to create clear, unambiguous actions for participants, which would drive uptake, fundraising and awareness. From the immersion phase, it was clear that baking had been the most successful fundraising activity during previous Brain Tumour Awareness month campaigns.

One of the key factors was the use of the bandana in the campaign. Recent years saw the prominence of this symbolic piece of apparel relegated to the background in an attempt to include people who wouldn’t want to wear it. This shying away from the bandana had muddied the #WearItOut concept. We wanted to bring the bandana back into the foreground (and back onto the heads of fundraisers), and so looked at campaign concepts which could incorporate it.

Because bandanas are associated with chefs, and because baking is currently a hugely popular pastime in the UK, we settled on the idea of The Big Bandana Bake. The aim was to encourage The Brain Tumour Charity supporters up and down the country to hold bake sales, bake-ins and bake-offs to raise money for vital research.

To support the campaign, and unite the community, we:

• Developed and refined The Big Bandana Bake campaign concept, providing guidance around activation ideas and creative applications.

• Directed the campaign photoshoot.

• Delivered creative assets and collateral, making best use of the existing brand guidelines to ensure a strong, impactful tone, and visual identity that helped mark The Big Bandana Bake as a memorable, fun and worthwhile campaign.

• Worked with the charity to develop an acquisition strategy.

• Delivered a fundraising pack, including an official #BandanaBake bandana.

How it went

The campaign was a huge success, with over 445 Big Bandana Bake events taking place throughout the country during Brain Tumour Awareness Month, organised by individuals, supporter groups and corporate partners.

Through 3,217 bandana sales, the campaign beat the target by nearly 15% and, more importantly, will fund over two years of desperately-needed research.

“Great agency, great team, great work; I would work with them again!”

– Antonio Cappelletti, Director of Digital Engagement and Communications, The Brain Tumour Charity

How this helps us on your project

Our knowledgeable strategists and tireless creatives take pride in immersing themselves fully in the needs, challenges and opportunities of our clients. This helps them gather the insights they need to devise and execute campaigns which energise audiences and deliver against strategic goals.