Kidney Cancer UK
Highlighting the challenges facing kidney cancer patients and the services available to them through Kidney Cancer UK
Over the course of 2020, 2022 and 2024 we have developed and executed three campaigns for Kidney Cancer UK – the UK’s leading kidney cancer charity.
PHA’s Healthcare and Third Sector specialists were tasked with executing these campaigns in line with Kidney Cancer Awareness Week which takes place in early February – with the purpose of:
- Launching a new patient survey with a data-led news story to highlight Kidney Cancer Awareness Week
- Driving traffic to the charity’s website
- Driving engagement through the charity’s Green Friday initiative on social media
Whilst elements of these campaigns have evolved over the last few years, our ongoing brief has consistently been to generate impactful mainstream media coverage in line with these objectives by executing three core activity streams
Utilising owned survey data to create a media moment – Our strategy was to secure an initial exclusive with a national newspaper, followed by supporting case study coverage across additional national news outlets, as well as key consumer and regional titles – with resulting coverage containing strong credits to Kidney Cancer UK and Kidney Cancer Awareness Week.
Complementary media activity – Using the hook of Kidney Cancer Awareness Week to help educate the public on the warning signs and symptoms of kidney cancer we positioned Kidney Cancer UK spokespeople as leading authorities and thought leaders on the subject. This resulted in coverage with a number of national and consumer outlets, with the majority of coverage sitting across online platforms to boost the charity’s digital footprint and drive traffic to the charity’s website, including the Daily Express and GB News.
Securing influencer support for Green Friday – To create mass consumer engagement via social media and ‘UGC’ (user-generated content), our campaign for Green Friday encouraged people to show their support for Kidney Cancer UK and Kidney Cancer Awareness Week by posting a green-themed photo to their social channels and tagging the charity. Supporters included TV personalities Demi Jones and Digby Edgeley, and MP Wes Streeting.
Another important strand of press office activity involved working with the charity’s leading spokespeople, and offering them to the media as expert commentators for Kidney Cancer Awareness Week. Through a mixture of news agenda hijacking, bespoke feature placement and thought leadership, we were able to secure coverage across a broad range of titles, which informed readers about the signs and symptoms they should be looking out for when it comes to kidney cancer and included a link to the charity website where they could find out more.
In the lead up to Kidney Cancer Awareness Week we also interviewed eight Kidney Cancer UK beneficiaries and drafted overviews of their stories for the media. These compelling stories were featured across the national, consumer and regional media, with information about Kidney Cancer UK and its work weaved into the narrative.
Finally, we reached out to a list of celebrities and influencers who had a personal connection with kidney cancer (or cancer more generally) and invited them to share an image of themselves wearing/cooking/enjoying something green on the morning of Green Friday – alongside the #GreenFriday hashtag and a link to the Kidney Cancer UK website.
89
pieces of print, online and broadcast coverage
58
pieces of social media coverage
25
pieces of national media coverage
720m+
consumers reached through media coverage
44,200
coverage shares to Dark Social (Whatsapp & Facebook Messenger)
73
domain authority average of online coverage