Consumer Public Relations: North West Ambulance Service
Consumer Public Relations: Objectives
The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) needed rescuing from an overwhelming number of non-emergency 999 calls, which would in turn free up resources for the busy winter period. A consumer public relations campaign was the only was to take this issue on head first, before the campaign started , 37% of inbound calls were from patients who could have been treated in another way.
We were asked to:
*Raise awareness among the public about how and when to use the North West Ambulance Service
*Actively decrease the number of 999 calls received during winter
Our targets were:
*10 pieces of online coverage
*4 pieces of print coverage
*90% coverage containing key messaging
*95,000 video views
*180,000 social reach
Consumer Public Relations: Strategy & Plan
Inspired by Channel 4’s groundbreaking ‘Complaints Welcome’ ad, we created unique video content that mixed serious messaging with comedy value using real 999 calls. Take a look below:
*This involved storyboarding concept, script writing, organising studio space, actors and props and overseeing production on the day of filming
*3 versions of the clip were made — an edit for social, media and then a b-roll
*A web page was built as a hub for the campaign
*A press release, including video embed and link to web page, was drafted and issued to key print and digital regional titles
*NWAS took advice from our team on timings for go-live, allowing for impact ahead of the busiest period for 999 calls (pre-Christmas)
*Major regional broadcasters were pulled in for interview opportunities to highlight both the problem and the campaign
Results
We delivered the following non-profit PR campaign results:
*4 pieces of national online coverage, including Metro and MSN News
*33 pieces of regional online coverage, featuring key titles such as MEN
*4 national print hits including the i and The Sun
*9 regional print hits including Lancashire Evening Post
* 93% of coverage contained core messaging, 11% included backlink to web page
*Broadcast spots on BBC North West Tonight and ITV Granada — reaching over 1.8million viewers — and radio outlets such as Heart and Revolution 96.2 FM
*Total potential reach of media coverage 588,362,064
*606,000 video views
*1.1million social media reach
*Organic web traffic increase of 18.12% YoY
*15% drop in non-urgent 999 calls YoY
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