The Brief
Develop an umbrella campaign theme for the RNLI’s plans to provide a fully integrated rescue service from the beach to the open sea, nationwide, highlighting the RNLI’s provision of Lifeguards. The campaign will be used both nationally and locally as appropriate and should target 3 key audiences, internal RNLI, beach-goers and existing supporters. Furthermore, it will also act as a tool to build awareness of the new and much broader role of the RNLI.
Our Response
In order to develop a campaign that worked on numerous levels, engaged various audiences and also encouraged buy-in from an historically traditional / Lifeboat biased internal audience, we needed to focus on RNLI's heritage and values. Their never ending commitment to saving lives at sea together with the bravery and skill of the volunteer crews had to be replicated and communicated within the Lifeguard service. Mad River therefore developed the ‘Life first’ campaign (and usage guidelines) that aligns both areas of the service within the strapline, RNLI Lifeboats, Lifeguards, Life first. This emphasises the organisations historic core philosophy of doing whatever it takes, whenever it is needed, in order to put life first and clearly communicates that the RNLI now provides a joined up service saving lives from the beach to open sea with both trained and qualified personnel.
As part of the Life first identity we have subtly incorporated the ‘swimming man’ to symbolise all those rescued and saved each year by the RNLI. The Life first theme itself is also extremely flexible in terms of communication and engages the audience by asking questions which can be answered by use of the strapline. A tiered approach to the visual communication was also created in order to appeal specifically to each audience i.e. corporate, families and the surfing community. As such a library of core images were created together with location and media specific messaging. The marketing mix for launch focused primarily on building awareness at existing and new Lifeguard service areas and featured the following:
- Outdoor - Bespoke 6 sheet sites at seafront locations and bus backs
- DL literature at TIC’s / Take One Media outlets en route to Lifeguard locations
- On-line banner ads targeting mothers / UK holiday makers
- Face-to-Face / Event Activity utilising the Life first Camper, providing give-aways
- Micro-site
- Viral 'Brain Waves’ game, a free, fun and interactive game (based on the highly popular brain training games) aimed at families communicating the required skills to be a RNLI Lifeguard, seeded free within various gaming sites
- Regional PR and developing celebrity endorsements
In year 1 the RNLI saw a rise in awareness of their provision of Lifeguarding from 24% of beach going public to 43% and increased income for Lifeguards by 610%.