Wigging Out: BMB founding partner Bil Bungay on why we should all support Wig Wednesday

Wig Wednesday, the new charity campaign led by CLIC Sargent and set to rival Red Nose Day and Movember, aims to raise vital funds for children and young people with cancer. Bil Bungay, founding partner at Beattie McGuinness Bungay, has been involved in the campaign from day one. Here he explains the strategy behind it and encourages the marketing services industries to get involved and don a wig on 22 May.

Richard Stott is so exquisitely tailored he makes me looks like a hobo. He knots my stomach with tales of financial woe before convincing me to give him what’s left of my fragile bank balance for ‘safekeeping', and then allows me to thank him for his brilliance with Jeroboams of Dom. Whilst Richard isn’t an ad agency suit, as senior partner at Vobis he is a suit nonetheless. So, when he casually mentions (in that suave and debonair manner that only a man in a suit can) that he has an ‘idea’, I say that he already has all my cash. He opens with ‘children with cancer’ dammit, and as a parent the very thought breaks your heart. I try to block him out. Then he hits me with a flurry: cancer = chemo/radiotherapy = hair loss = wig.Hair loss is no picnic for an adult, so you can only imagine how difficult a thing it is for a child. At best they feel embarrassed, at worst they’re floored by their loss of identity. And, at times, it’s a bigger deal for them than their life threatening condition – not a good place to be at the precise moment when all they should be feeling is precious, cared for and loved.“Let’s get people to wear wigs to show their support for these kids!” says Richard. “Brilliant! We should call it Wig Wednesday and get people to wear them to work for a day,” I say.The following morning as the JeroDom haze begins to clear, the potential of Wig Wednesday begins to dawn on me. For some, wigs are a nuisance, a necessity, an embarrassment, a poorly kept secret – but for most they are simply fun. We wear silly wigs for parties, stag and hen dos, fun runs etc, serious wigs for movie and theatre productions, cool wigs for fashion and nights out and so on. It’s fascinating how much a wig changes our identity – which is precisely why everyone loves to see someone they know in a wig.Plus, it’s incredibly difficult to come up with an awareness/fundraising concept that is relevant to a cause and motivating in equal measure. I love Movember: I think it’s beautifully pitched, lovingly art directed and humorous; a great fundraiser that you want to participate in. But on reflection the concept has little to do with testicular/prostate cancer other than it’s blokes that have the parts in question/can grow moustaches and it’s in November! That said – a direct link between scrotums and a national event would probably get the authorities in a tizz…and as far as building an event around a prostate gland is concerned?Same for Red Nose Day: A great day of fun and fundraising for charity but no connection between the concept and causes, which makes Wig Wednesday unique.We have been amazed at the reaction of everyone to the idea. CLIC Sargent had no hesitation in backing the initiative, while that all-important, incredibly generous celebrity audience have gone for Wig Wed in their droves.Harry Hill, Joanna Lumley, Natalie Cassidy, Robert Glenister, Celia Imrie, Frankie Essex, Jessica Jane Clement, Tara Palmer Tomkinson, Ashley Roberts, Lydia Bright, Laura Whitmore and Michelle Ryan to name but a few have all wigged up and have created a large amount of news for the event.After a soft launch last year to put a marker in the ground (Wednesday 3 May – this year it’s Wednesday 22 May), 2013 is set to be huge, with nearly 1000 businesses and schools signed up to wig wearing for the day, in exchange for a charitable donation to help the incredibly important work of CLIC Sargent.A growing number of national media channels are joining in the fun. This year we should see a wig themed national newspaper (a random article on Wigan Athletic here, a town guide to Barnet there), wig-wearing TV presenters and wig-related radio broadcasts. Even the finest publication of them all, your very own The Drum is wigging up for the day! If only I could get Golden Syrup to become the main sponsor, it is an event that is surely made for them…I predict that Wig Wednesday will be as big as Red Nose Day in no time. And (quelle horreur) it was a suit wot did it (and his lovely wife!). But then who cares where the great idea comes from, especially if it’s a brilliantly simple, heartwarming excuse for a bit of fun that will be a huge boost for the poorly kids in the care of CLIC Sargent?Sign up your business, fellow Drummers, and have some serious fun for a serious cause on 22 May! Oh, and make sure you tweet those images to @TheDrum for all to see. For me it was a toss up between the rocker and the geisha.