Campaign Collective worked with the Warm This Winter campaign and End Fuel Poverty Coalition to keep Britain’s broken energy system top of mind throughout the Easter long weekend.
Our expert campaigners used a combination of tactics, including new research and hijacking existing news hooks to ensure a steady stream of hard-hitting coverage for our clients – over 300 pieces across four days, including 20 chunky national hits.
Campaign Collective Founder Member and coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, Simon Francis, kicked things off on Good Friday with interviews on Sky News Radio, GB News, LBC and Press Association highlighting that with energy standing charges due to rise, despite headlines about unit prices falling, prices would remain nearly double what they were in 2021.
An exclusive report in the Sunday Telegraph from Future Energy Associates followed, which revealed how foreign-owned vampire funds are profiting from UK gas network ownership.
On Easter Monday – dubbed April Fuels Day – a new analysis of company reports showed that energy giants have pocketed hundreds of billions in profits since the energy crisis started, with an exclusive in the Daily Mirror soon picked up by The Daily Express and Daily Mail. A 38 Degrees / One Minute Brief challenging people to create witty social content to shed light on the injustice of the energy industry raking in billions while the country struggles to pay their energy bills generated some corkers and extended reach across social media.
April will also see households paying energy firms a combined £1.3bn in annual charges to help suppliers recover bad debt. New polling from Opinium revealed that over half (55%) of the public oppose energy firms using money raised through the additional £28 per household being spent on debt administrative costs. Warm This Winter partner 38 degrees launched a petition in response to the new charge, which generated 23,000 signatures in its first few days.
Finally, as the week drew to a close, our work with the Social Workers Union Campaign Fund kicked in to reveal the horrendous mouldy conditions many social workers see children living in. The report generated further headlines and led the STV 6pm news.
Campaign Collective Founder Member and co-chair of the Warm This Winter Communications Working Group, Sarah Colombini, said:
“With column inches at a premium and more competition than ever, we have to find increasingly creative ways to keep important issues front of mind. By using a range of tactics which meet the needs of journalists as well as providing strong social media content, we are able to ensure we deliver for the causes which matter and hold profiteers to account.
“Hard hitting reports, expert analysis, consumer polling, petitions and news hijacks all combined over the Easter weekend to increase our clients’ share of voice and help us stand up for ordinary people.”
Find out more about our campaigns.