Prostate Cancer UK ramps up social and editorial content to evolve Men United campaign
Prostate Cancer UK is banking on increased digital, social and editorial investment to bolster its Men United campaign, marking the start of a bid to drive year-round engagement with the charity.
The TV campaign will run for five weeks from today (29 Janaury) alongside online activity that highlight male friendships and the value of those bonds to real groups of men. The idea is that by coming together in the pub or putting on a music gig for the charity, Prostate Cancer UK can form “a movement of men” to help fight the disease, according to chief executive Owen Sharp, who spoke to The Drum at a launch event.
“For me I want two things to be created out of this,” said Sharp. “I want us to create a movement for men and that movement will mean different things. It will mean fundraising but at times we’re going to face the need for changes and we’re going to need an army of men behind us that can help us get that change.
“But more than that I want men to care about it and you can only care about something you are engaged with; our biggest enemy is apathy and ambivalence so engagement means we become the charity of choice for more and more men.”
A monthly newsletter will be sent out to those who sign up on the charity’s website. Jonathan Simmons, chief experience officer of the campaign's creator Zone told The Drum it will resemble a magazine with ideas to inspire men to meet up together on their own terms rather than asking them to take part in a run or a coffee afternoon.
“In the modern world, charities need to mean more and do more than pull on heartstrings to engage audiences. Just like brands, they need to provide a service, helping to make lives easier and more enriching for their audiences. Keeping friendships alive is great because it’s true. It’s what Prostate Cancer UK has always done - Zone are just bringing it to the fore.”
Zone and Prostate Cancer UK will take advantage of 'man moments' on social media, such as famous and everyday men coming together to have fun. These will be retweeted with a reference to the Men United campaign.
Music will play an integral part of the campaign and Prostate Cancer UK has brought on board The Who’s former drummer Kenney Jones, who himself suffered from prostate cancer, as a brand ambassador. Last year Jones and a host of famous musician friends held a rock concert, Rock ‘n’ Horsepower, to support the charity, something that will be reprised this year.
“The great thing about music is that it’s a great vehicle to spread the word on most subjects really,” Jones told The Drum. “I sit in the driving seat of that so why not use it? So I do.
“Music makes the world go round, so music can make the word spread round and it can help to spread the word around against all cancers not just prostate cancer.”
When the Men United campaign launched last year with comedian Bill Bailey, the charity saw 200,000 men sign up to get involved. Whilst a successful drive that helped raise awareness of the disease, director of communications Vivienne Francis said this year Prostate Cancer UK will look to use social and experiential to drive lasting engagement.
“[We are] nervous but excited. If we learnt anything last year it was that you can create this big impact and get people on board but there wasn’t the level of engagement that we’re going to do now. The way that we’ll be working will be much more about sustaining a dialogue, finding real-life stories, making sure we’re spotlighting guys that are doing something brilliant for us and showing others the way.”
The 40-second and 20-seconds, which all feature real groups of male friends enjoying a variety of activities together, launch on ITV and Sky Sports today.
To kick off the integrated campaign, a pop-up pub, the Men United Arms, will open for a week in London’s The Anchor pub in Bankside, before moving around the country.
To sign for Men United visit prostatecanceruk.org/menunited