British Heart Foundation Promotes Message with Vinnie Jones Campaign
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has switched its marketing strategy to humorous advertising instead of the traditional shock tactics. In doing so, it aims to stand out more from other charities and better engage with the public, particularly with viewers actively seeking video content online.
Spearheaded by a TV spot fronted by popular British actor Vinnie Jones, the advertisement teaches viewers how to do heart resuscitation to the beat of the Bee Gees 1977 song, Stayin' Alive. Content from the campaign will be used in the charity's training programme, which will feature extra footage from the TV ad.
Launched last week, it is reported that the ad has thus far generated almost 1 million views online.
Chief Creative Officer at Grey Europe, the BHF's ad agency, explained that the approach works because the amount of "bad things" happening in the world means that using shock tactics to communicate a message will not encourage people to share the ad with their friends.
He added: "People want to look on the bright of side of life especially when they're sharing content with friends. Charity advertisers are reluctant to invest in humour the way the BHF are. It's more challenging for charities to make an ad that makes people laugh for an issue like heart attacks than it is to make a scary piece of work that may offend a child."