PRACTICAL ACTION PICK BAND & BROWN FOR CAMPAIGN AROUND QUIET STORM FILM

International development charity Practical Action has appointed Band & Brown Communications (Twitter: @BBComms) as its PR agency to help it reach new audiences via a thought-provoking online video campaign with a difference.

The agency has been recruited following a three-way pitch to raise the profile of Practical Action, whose four-decades of working with the people of the developing world to help them alleviate poverty has not been matched by its consumer profile.

The three-month campaign will centre on a provocative online video created by leading creative agency Quiet Storm, whose clients include MTV, Kerry Foods and Haribo. This will form the hub of an unusual and highly creative campaign that will encompass on and offline PR, social media, and the design and development of a campaign microsite, complemented by third-party seeding activity.

Rob Cartridge from Practical Action, said: “Practical Action is an international development charity with a difference, and this is a PR campaign with a difference. Our work is innovative and exciting – we want this campaign to be the same.

“This campaign will not only help raise awareness of Practical Action as an organisation, but also of the values that make us stand our from other charities in this field – working with the people of the developing world to enable them to lift themselves out of poverty, rather than rely on handouts.”

Commenting on the appointment, Simon Francis, Band & Brown Communications managing partner, said: “We are delighted to be working on this campaign, which brings together several different areas of our expertise in a thought-provoking, highly creative campaign. We are looking forward to both widening consumer awareness of Practical Action and delivering more supporters for them.”

Neal Colyer Creative Director Quiet Storm said: “What impressed us about Practical Action and the work they’re doing was that it simply made sense, practical solutions to world problems that frankly are not going to go away on their own. Trust us when we say this campaign pulls no punches.”

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Project name Fat of the land
Client Rob Cartridge & Sara-Jane Brown, Practical Action
Brief To demonstrate how we can use practical solutions to help solve world problems
Creative agency Quiet Storm
Copywriter Neal Colyer
Art director Neal Colyer
Planner (creative agency) Jon Howard-Spink
Media agency in house
Production Company Quiet Storm Films
Director Trevor Robinson OBE
Editor Crinan Campbell
Exposure Digital

About Practical Action
Practical Action believes that the right idea, however small, can change lives.

Practical Action is an international development charity with a difference, working together with some of the world's poorest women, men and children, helping to alleviate poverty in the developing world through the innovative use of technology.

Practical Action's particular strength is its 'simple' approach: finding out what people are doing and helping them to do it better. This enables poor communities to build their own knowledge and skills to produce sustainable and practical solutions: driving their own development.

Whether enabling women and men in Darfur to feed their families, providing people in Bangladesh with the chance to control the impact of flooding on their lives or working with remote communities in Peru to introduce electricity, Practical Action's activities are always people focused, locally relevant and environmentally sensitive, offering tangible ways out of poverty.

BAND & BROWN APPOINTED TO HELP YOUNG PEOPLE RESPOND IN A CRISIS

 

The British Red Cross has appointed Band & Brown Communications as its creative agency to build propensity to act by increasing the number of 11-16 year olds with first-aid skills.

The agency has been recruited following a 4-way pitch to increase the number of young people who are confident, competent and willing to act when they find themselves, their family or friends in a crisis which can be helped by first aid.

The 15-month campaign will centre around PR creatives, media partnerships, digital advertising and social media - all supported by the Life. Live It. first aid resources taught in schools.

Paul Donnelly, Campaign manager, said:

“As part of the world’s largest first aid training and education organisation the British Red Cross is committed to building the resilience of the UK population through local community programmes, humanitarian education and first aid learning.

As part of this work we specifically want to help children and young people to develop their understanding of humanitarian issues and acquire the skills they need to support others in a crisis.

“This campaign will help to ensure that we shape a generation of young people who are confident, capable and ready to act.” 

Commenting on the appointment, Gill Brown, CEO, Band & Brown Communications said: “We are delighted to be working on this campaign and are looking forward to challenging young peoples’ perceptions of what it means to learn first aid and be willing and able to use it.”

MENTAL HEALTH CHARITY MIND WINS PRO-BONO PR SUPPORT

Mental health charity Mind has beaten stiff competition to secure pro-bono PR support from Band & Brown Communications, the leading communications agency announces today.
More than 70 health and wellbeing charities applied to be considered for the pro-bono offer, which includes two per cent of Band & Brown’s profits from 2009 being put towards the charity’s chosen campaign.

Mind’s campaign – which was overwhelmingly selected by a Band & Brown staff vote from a shortlist of three applications – seeks to develop the organisation’s Taking Care of Business campaign and eradicate negative attitudes towards mental health in the workplace.

Band & Brown’s Head of Public Sector, Simon Francis, commented:

“The judging panel was impressed with the high quality of Mind’s application, which set out clear communications and policy objectives to destigmatise mental health. We’re delighted to work with Mind to help them implement a step-change in how this sensitive issue is handled by employers and perceived by the public.

“The response we received to our pro-bono offer was much higher than expected – which demonstrates how difficult many organisations find it to access vital communications support. For this reason, we are contacting every charity that applied to ensure we can find other ways of supporting their causes – at no cost or directing them to organisations like the Media Trust and the Sheila McKechnie Foundation.”

Mind’s Head of Media, Alison Kerry, commented:

“Mental health is an issue in every workforce yet it’s often the white elephant in the room. Five million people say they are stressed in their jobs, with half a million believing work pressure is making them physically ill but employers often just don’t know how to support their staff and a great deal of stigma about mental health still exists.

“Mind’s Taking care of Business campaign aims to transform attitudes to mental health at work and we are delighted to have the support of Band & Brown in achieving this ambition. We hope their expert advice will aid us in inspiring the nation’s workforce to get behind our campaign.”    

Previous beneficiaries from Band & Brown’s pro-bono scheme include leading education charity, BeatBullying, international aid organisation Advocates for International Development and domestic violence charity RISE.

PRO-BONO PR SUPPORT APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED

Thanks to all the health and wellbeing charities who applied to be our pro-bono cause this year. 

We’ve had a great response and will let all applicants know if they’ve been successful by Friday 9 July. Good luck!

FINAL CALL FOR CHARITIES TO APPLY FOR PRO-BONO PR SUPPORT

Health and wellbeing charities have one more week to apply to receive pro-bono PR support from leading London communications agency, Band & Brown Communications.

The company, which includes PR, design, experiential and social media specialists has set aside two per cent of profits from 2009 to be used by the successful charity in fee time.

Charities representing a broad range of topics including sports, disability, substance misuse and health conditions have already submitted applications and organisations nationwide have until Wednesday 30 June to apply.

Applications are invited from health and well-being charities which operate solely in the UK, have clear communications objectives and are open to using a whole range of channels and tactics to meet these objectives.

Head of Public Sector, Simon Francis, commented:

“We know that many health charities can’t always easily access communications agency support, so this year we have opened our pro-bono scheme up through a simple nominations process.

“We’ve already received some great applications from passionate and committed organisations but we are keen to give as many health and wellbeing charities as possible the opportunity to apply.”

Application process

To apply, charities can visit http://www.bbpr.com/ to download a short, five-question, application form, can call 020 7419 7000 or email csr@bbpr.com to request one. Deadline for applications is 30th June 2010. A shortlist based on fair and clear assessment criteria will be put to a vote of Band & Brown staff in w/c 5th July with the successful charity informed by 9 July.

Previous beneficiaries from Band & Brown’s pro-bono scheme include leading education charity, BeatBullying, international aid organisation Advocates for International Development and domestic violence charity RISE.

Band & Brown currently works on health and well-being issues campaigns for clients including Aegate, BUPA, emedcareers, Department for Work and Pensions and LV=. The selection process is separate from the pro-bono activity Band & Brown will undertake with Action Against Hunger through the Cossette UK group of companies.