Campaign Collective member, Louise Akers, has extensive experience working with charities to help them achieve media cut through and reach their target audiences. We asked Louise to share her advice and expertise on how to make awareness days work for your campaign:
“There are now hundreds of awareness days, weeks and months, and charities and other campaigning organisations are continuing to create them. Given the sheer number, you might be considering how useful they are, and whether they can realistically help you raise awareness of your cause and achieve your campaign aims.
“In our experience, designated awareness ‘moments’ can be extremely beneficial for both small and large organisations and can serve as powerful platforms to shed light on pressing issues and encourage action.
“Examples such as World Menopause Day, Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Day, Melanoma Awareness Month and Liver Cancer Awareness Month illustrate the potential impact of raising awareness about important causes and mobilising support from the public, but the moment itself is not enough without well-planned wider campaign activity to cut through the media noise and reach the general public effectively.
“World Menopause Day, an internationally recognised moment that was established in 2009 by the International Menopause Society in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, has seen enormous and accumulative success. Thanks to support from an increasing number of campaigners and the public, it has grown into a massive global platform for discussions about menopause and its effects on women’s health.
“Other health charities including the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce and Liver Cancer UK have set up Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Day and Liver Cancer Awareness Month respectively to raise awareness of common cancers and to successfully encourage people to contact their GP if they notice potential symptoms. Smaller charities such as Guts UK have also established awareness moments for lesser-known but serious issues, including Diverticular Disease Awareness Week which they launched in October this year.
“The thing all these high-impact campaigns have had in common is a wider strategy of communications activity including a selection of the following:
- The creation of news stories and promotion of case studies via traditional media
- Collaboration with influencers and the creation and promotion of social media content
- Targeted events and communication with policy makers and stakeholders
- Other tactics to amplify their messages and share a clear call-to-action.
“Don’t be put off by a competitive campaigning landscape. Through compelling storytelling, impactful visuals, and engaging activities, charities and other advocacy organisations can use awareness days to make a lasting impression on the public and inspire action towards positive change.”
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