Charity and NFP

Executive director of communications and advocacy, British Red Cross For Zoe Abrams, 2020 was all about intelligent collaboration and positive intent. She believes this can be just as “catalytic and galvanising” as competition can, a mentality reflected in the British Red Cross’s decision to put its community reserve volunteers to work supporting food poverty charity FareShare to help vulnerable people during the early days of the Covid crisis. The charity’s marketing also set out to show the collective power of kindness and togetherness during the pandemic. In April 2020, the British Red Cross launched its ‘Kindness will keep us together’ campaign, highlighting the human capacity to support one another during Covid-19. A second ad, ‘What did you do?’ showcased the role the British Red Cross had been playing in the global crisis and sought to “empower” people to make a difference. As part of the campaign and to help drive donations, 11 artists created limited edition prints and downloadable posters around the theme of kindness. The British Red Cross signed up 68,000 new community reserve volunteers during the first few weeks of the pandemic, taking the total to over 93,000.■

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meet the judges

TOP100 hOME

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The top100 list

Zoe Abrams

Deputy director, head of marketing, NHS England Phil Bastable has led marketing for the NHS through an unprecedented year, during which he not only continued to build on the health service's long-term behaviour change campaigns, but also launched a major new push encouraging people to get the treatment they need amid Covid-19. With the pandemic having a huge effect on how people are accessing services, the NHS teamed up with Public Health England to launch ‘Help us, help you’. Aimed at raising awareness of the early signs of cancer, the campaign encouraged people to speak to their GP and reminded them the NHS is there to see them safely. The NHS’s recruitment drive campaign, ‘We Are The NHS’, entered its third year in 2020, with a new spot offering a moment of reflection on 72 years of the NHS. Bastable described the 'Then, Now, Always' campaign as being "instrumental" in reaching people who have been inspired by the health service's work over the past few months, as well as those who have "dreamt of working with the NHS for years".■

Phil Bastable

charity & not-for-profit

Head of partnerships and development of domestic abuse services, National Centre for Domestic Violence Sharon Bryan joined the National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV) in January 2021 to develop the new role of head of partnerships and development of domestic abuse services. With 23 years' experience in the domestic abuse field, Bryan plays a key role in raising awareness of the NCDV’s life-saving services and mission to make domestic abuse socially unacceptable, all the more important in the context of the last year as domestic abuse levels have risen globally due to Covid-19. The NCDV - which recently changed its formal status to a community interest company - launched its ‘Abusers Always Work from Home’ campaign during the first lockdown in 2020. While the government was instructing everyone to stay at home, the campaign - created with Wunderman Thompson in under three weeks - highlighted the 49% increase in domestic abuse incidents under lockdown. The film was viewed 750,000 times in a matter of weeks, while calls for help to the NCDV increased by 25% during the campaign. It also beat the likes of Tesco, Ikea and Just Eat to be voted the best campaign of 2020 by Marketing Week readers.■

Sharon Bryan

Marketing director, Public Health England Alexia Clifford has been with Public Health England since its inception in 2013 and was promoted to marketing director in October 2020, taking responsibility for all aspects of PHE’s behaviour change campaigns, a team of 50 and a budget of £50m. Clifford is at the helm of PHE’s marketing as its biggest campaign in more than a decade nears the end of its first year. PHE launched its new adult health brand ‘Better Health’ last summer in an effort to build on what it saw as a “reset moment” in the UK as Covid-19 pushed the issue of health up the agenda. Better Health has since run campaigns around obesity, exercise, smoking and mental wellbeing. Previously PHE’s head of marketing, Clifford played a pivotal role in the success of the government’s multimillion pound flagship marketing programme, Change4Life, which has since gained over 200 national commercial partners and is valued at over £14m per year. She also led PHE’s ‘Stoptober’ and ‘Every Mind Matters’ campaigns and has helped to deliver a suite of award-winning digital products including ‘Couch to 5K’ and the Breastfeeding Friend.■

Alexia Clifford

Marketing director, CALM CALM’s (Campaign Against Living Miserably) marketing and communications have gone from strength to strength under Ben Hawley’s leadership, as the male mental health charity ensured its message and mission remained visible throughout the coronavirus pandemic. When the UK went into lockdown last year, CALM experienced a 37% increase in daily calls to its helpline. In April, the charity partnered with Head & Shoulders for #ApartButTogether, providing support and advice on how to adapt to the changing circumstances. The partnership, which saw the development of a range of content to build awareness and engagement among the core Head & Shoulders audience, has since achieved 52 million impacts. Last year, CALM also launched a free ‘Covid Blocker’ Google Chrome extension that removes coronavirus-related news and content on people’s desktop and released ‘Brothers’, a short film raising awareness of mental health within families. This year CALM launched out-of-home campaign ‘We’re Here’ to promote the vital role of its helpline as Covid-19 continues to affect people’s mental health. The charity estimates 50 suicides are directly prevented by CALM every month on average.■

Ben Hawley

Executive director of external affairs, Samaritans Paul McDonald joined Samaritans in 2015 to lead the internal and external communications, policy, campaigns and research. Samaritans has been working to meet new and evolving demands for support over the past 12 months and has signed a number of new multi-year partnerships to ensure it can reach as many people as possible through the pandemic and beyond. Samaritans began a three-year partnership with Barclays last year to help grow its support service through a range of new and existing programmes, including digital and volunteering initiatives. This year the charity teamed up with mobile network Three for the #BetterPhoneFriend campaign, which aims to connect 1 million people to emotional support. Over the next three years, Samaritans and Three will work together to expand the charity’s support services, as well as deliver bespoke training, resources and fundraising initiatives to support the wellbeing of the nation. Samaritans also launched a self-help app during Mental Health Awareness Week last year, encouraging people to be kind to themselves and look after their emotional wellbeing.■

Paul McDonald

Head of media relations and communications, Women’s Aid Teresa Parker has led the communications strategy for Women’s Aid for two decades. Over the past year the charity has accelerated its efforts to raise awareness of the increased dangers of domestic abuse during Covid-19 and drive donations in an already challenged funding climate. Women’s Aid experienced a 41% increase in users visiting its live chat service when the first lockdown began. In a bid to keep the service running and help fund refuges, Women’s Aid and long-term partner Engine launched ‘The Lockdown’ in April 2020, which focused on home being anything but a safe place for survivors of domestic abuse. This was followed by the charity’s ‘Respite’ campaign in December. Concerned about the combined impact of another lockdown and the festive period, the ad highlighted how women in abusive relationships have fewer opportunities to spend time away from their abusers during lockdown. Women’s Aid continued its 'Abuse Is Not Love' partnership with YSL this year and launched the Expect Respect Healthy Relationship Toolkit to help children and young people recognise the key warning signs of abuse and promote healthy relationships.■

Teresa Parker

Executive director of marketing, fundraising and engagement, British Heart Foundation Claire Sadler joined the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in January 2021 to take responsibility for the charity’s marketing and fundraising strategy, product development, campaign execution and customer experience across its products and channels. After seeing donations plummet in 2020 due to Covid-19, the BHF has been trying to find new ways to raise money while looking to a more digital future. The charity launched its ‘Coronavirus on their minds’ campaign last May to communicate its availability to people who might need it during the crisis and remind people of the importance of funding. The ad was inspired by questions callers had been asking the specialist nurses on its helpline and was accompanied by a coronavirus support hub. Sadler reports directly to the BHF’s CEO as she works to change the way the brand engages with supporters amid changing consumer habits and a shift to online retail. Prior to joining the BHF, she spent three years as marketing director at insurer Direct Line and 13 years as BT’s group brand director.■

Claire Sadler

Executive director of fundraising and marketing, Cancer Research UK As Covid-19 rose up the health agenda last year, other diseases slipped down in importance, meaning Cancer Research UK was faced with a £150m funding shortfall. However, Philip Almond believes the pandemic provided an opportunity for CRUK to refocus its efforts and look at what was working and what wasn’t, as well as getting costs down. This resulted in the charity communicating its overall brand rather than individual products and actively getting people to refocus on its purpose. The former BBC CMO believes focusing CRUK’s comms around the pandemic has helped the charity to stay relevant. Cancer Research UK launched what Almond describes as a “brand response” campaign in November, where it addressed the fact the pandemic had slowed it down, while also highlighting the importance of beating cancer. In addition, CRUK is focusing on improving its capabilities in digital loyalty and launched a virtual version of its Race for Life called Race At Home last year. Almond believes that a holistic creative process is at the heart of any successful efficiency drive and that chasing metrics for their own sake can stifle innovative thought, stunt effectiveness and “create a culture that will cripple creativity”.■

Philip Almond

Director of communications and marketing, NSPCC Marketing is seen as an “essential and integral” part of the NSPCC. When David Hamilton joined during the middle of the pandemic last June, he knew the charity needed to be “seen and heard more” and that it would have to rely on its marketing and communications to get it through the crisis. The charity has worked hard to keep its services front of mind throughout the pandemic. It launched its ‘Still Here’ campaign in May 2020, followed by ‘Still Here Frontline’ in October, aiming to show the role NSPCC’s services continue to play as the Covid-19 situation changes. Hamilton leads a team of more than 100 people across marketing, public relations, media, digital, data insights, and volunteer and staff communications. He believes through powerful and compelling communications, the NSPCC can mobilise support, hold leaders to account and help transform society to prevent abuse and keep children safe. Prior to NSPCC, Hamilton was director of communications and marketing at The Scout Association and head of public relations and engagement at Action for Children.■

David Hamilton

neW

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