One room, one sledgehammer, and 10,000 walnuts. Those are the key tools used by Prostate Cancer UK in its latest fundraising stunt. Gareth Ellis-Thomas cracks open the shell on the campaign.
Name: | "Nutcracker Suite" |
Target audience: | All men, Prostate Cancer UK supporters and their networks |
Duration: | 21 January - 4 February 2013 |
Location: | Live streamed here: http://prostatecanceruk.org/get-involved/sledgehammer-fund/the-nutcracker-suite |
Basic overview: | Celebrities and mere mortals are spending two weeks in the Nutcracker Suite smashing their way through 10,000 walnuts to highlight Prostate Cancer and raise funds. Streamed live online Prostate Cancer UK attempts to bridge the gap between the digital and 'real' worlds. |
What is the aim of the campaign?
The Nutcracker Suite is a key part to our biggest ever campaign - ‘The Sledgehammer Fund’ - which recently launched with the aim to increase awareness of prostate cancer and raise funds to crack it once and for all.
You may have already seen the ads with Bill Bailey talking about the prostate being the size of a walnut and needing a very big sledgehammer indeed to crack the problem of prostate cancer. With the Nutcracker Suite, we’re giving our supporters a unique way of being part of the campaign and literally cracking walnuts with a sledgehammer to raise more awareness and funds.
Broadcast live from a disused shop in Holborn for two weeks, every donation of £5 or more given via text or online to the Sledgehammer Fund, will see us very unsubtly smashing a walnut to represent how that donation has brought us that little bit closer to cracking prostate cancer.
We’re looking to smash 10,000 walnuts in the Nutcracker Suite – that’s one for every man who dies of prostate cancer each year. While our guest nutcrackers are in there, we also ask them questions about their own involvement with Prostate Cancer UK and the cause. This way, we are able to show the range of ways people can support us – be they celebrities, volunteers, members of staff, corporates or other charity supporters – through their stories.
Why is the campaign needed now?
Already the most common cancer in men, prostate cancer is predicted to become the most common cancer of all in the UK by 2030. It is a disease that kills 10,000 men every year in the UK, that’s one man every hour, however prostate cancer is simply not on the radar. The organisation is determined to change the fortunes of men's health, and is waking up the nation to the impact of prostate cancer.
The main bulk of the Sledgehammer Fund is a series of television, digital and print ads scheduled to appear throughout January. We’re running the Nutcracker Suite to run at the same time as these ads to give relevance to the idea and help with amplification of the message.
What are the different elements of the campaign?
At it’s heart, this is a content marketing piece. We’re asking our guest nutcrackers to spread the message and get their networks to watch them online when it’s their turn to enter the Nutcracker Suite. This means digital channels are really important – particularly social networks of those involved.
We’re also exploring the idea of reciprocity in digital fundraising. Compared to donating to a traditional bucket-shaker or handing over sponsorship money to someone completing a run, donating online can be quite a cold experience. We’re giving online donors something real in return for their money – they can watch a person thank them by name and then destroy a walnut in their honour live on our website. The inclusion of text donations makes it almost immediate, without having to fill out any long-winded forms. As great as digital is for many, many things, online donor journeys are generally quite lengthy and unrewarding and we thought it would be really interesting to explore how else we could approach it.
Hosting the Nutcracker Suite in our own pop-up shop in Holborn, central London, has added another exciting dimension to it. The experiential element of it means we’re connecting the digital world with the real world and it’s been a great way of engaging with our supporters in a memorable and fun way for them. Nobody really knows what to expect when they arrive but they all have a great time smashing walnuts.
What is different about the campaign?
As far as we’re aware, nothing like this has ever been done before in a live environment in the sector, bringing together the digital and real worlds. We were inspired by the recent movement in experiential happenings like Secret Cinema, Punch Drunk theatre and You Me Bum Bum Train and wanted to bring some of that fun to the charity world. Streaming it on our website means we are putting our supporters at the heart of the story for their hour stint.
It’s an original and fun concept that attracts passers-by and people online. Those who donate are rewarded by having their name appear in lights in the Nutcracker Suite. This has been an effective way to encourage people to donate again and again.
Who was involved in the design the campaign?
The Nutcracker Suite was created and designed by digital agency, Public Zone, who worked with our in-house design and digital teams at the charity. Event agency, A Current Affair, was responsible for the set design and build, xFilm for the video and streaming, and Blackbaud for the mobile texting.
How long did this process take and what was the process like?
We had the initial concept in place before Christmas and spent the first few weeks in January making it all happen. So probably about three weeks in pre-production and three in production (with Christmas in between), plus 15 days for the event itself. As it was an entirely new concept and our time frame was so tight we’ve had to remain pretty flexible and be open to unexpected eventualities. Things ranging from the amount of oil walnuts excrete when you smash them and our upload speed for streaming dipping at around 4pm when the kids get out of school and turn their mobiles on.
It’s been a very exciting and varied project to work on, especially for someone who is more used to sitting at a computer all day. We are really pleased with how it has gone so far.
When will you know how successful the campaign has been and what will you use to measure this?
We will start our initial analysis once the Nutcracker Suite has closed and donations are all in. The success will be measured by the number of walnuts cracked, the number of donations made and the amount raised in total. We will also be measuring how much the campaign has been talked about and shared online using digital metrics, including visits to our website and engagement with our stakeholders. There will also be long lead measurables, such as future successes with contacts and corporate partners.
What was the overall cost of the campaign and what pro-bono support have you received?
We have a long-standing working relationship with Public Zone and so we have managed to work together to make sure the project is delivered at the best possible value. I’ve called in a few favours from friends and acquaintances which mean parts of it have been done at cost price. It’s an exciting and to some extent experimental project and lots of people have gone out of their way to get involved and make it happen.
Healthy Planet kindly donated the space for free, whilst Marks & Spencer provided the walnuts, and Keyline Builders Merchant the Sledgehammer. We’ve also been very grateful to the local businesses that have provided hot water and cleaning equipment.
Gareth Ellis-Thomas is head of digital at Prostate Cancer UK
