Highly Commended in the UnAwards23 – a proud moment.
Like many who work in comms across the UK the annual UnAwards are a highlight of our year. And so, with old friends and new (all of which represent the best, most innovative in comms) we headed to Birmingham to celebrate the incredible achievements of our counterparts too working in the UK public sector and beyond.
A proud sponsor of this year’s event, Grey Fox also received a ‘highly commended’ in the ‘Best work by an agency/freelancer’ category for our recent project in collaboration with NHS North West London.
There were some truly exceptional entries in this year’s category, so though the main award went to the brilliant Magpie for their Let’s Clear the Air campaign, we were thrilled to get a mention as a highly commended entry.
We wanted to share a bit more about the project that inspired our entry:
Creating a sustainable workforce
We were commissioned in December 2022 to help them reach local young people, and increase the number of people in education, training and apprenticeships across the health and care sector in the area. Our brief was based around two objectives:
- To attract potential attendees to the North West London Health and Care Career Festival held in January 2023.
- To introduce the new Northwest London Health and Social Care Academy; a new partnership dedicated to creating a sustainable workforce for local care services, whilst boosting the aspirations and economy of this diverse geographical area.
A twin-track approach
It was after further consultation with the client about these objectives, that we went on to suggest a twin-track approach comprising of:
- A social media advertising campaign featuring 3 short 20 second animated videos utilising Snapchat to attract people to the Career Festival
- A longer-term approach to engaging professionals and partners in the work of the Northwest London Health and Social Care Academy, utilising a 5-minute video featuring the real-life experiences of two people already working in the local care system.
We then developed a series of engaging visuals reflecting the diversity of the area and the opportunities on offer, wrote scripts and messaging that were empathetic, aspirational, and consistently applied, as well as managing and monitoring the paid-for ads.
They highlighted the possibilities available for anyone looking for a change of career, and focused around three easy-to-engage-with messages, appealing to the target audiences' aspirations:
“Are you ready?" - showcasing the exciting possibilities that a career in health and care could provide for someone motivated by the idea of making a difference.
“You could do that!" - demonstrating that a career in health and care could be open to anyone, regardless of background or academic achievements (through apprenticeships and on-the-job training)
"You are..." - prompting the viewer to see themselves in a particular care role, motivating them to get involved.
Outcomes beyond social stats
Published on Snapchat as well as placed on the client's website, and used for seminars, exhibitions and recruitment events, the outcomes of our collective efforts were fantastic, with:
- 2.6k impressions on Snapchat
- 4k link clicks for registrations to the event
- 71k video views.
Not only that, but the Careers Festival was held at full capacity.
The legacy of the project is, however, even more significant:
Since it was launched the ICB have:
- supported over 1000 people more into education and training across the health and social care sector year on year. In the period up to launch, the number was 2289. In the same period since, it has been 3537 (and growing).
- Started 300 more apprenticeships have been started year on year since the project was launched. In the period up to launch, the number of apprenticeships across the Northwest London system was 1379. In the same period since, it has been 1697.
This has provided a new generation of care professionals with the opportunity to fulfil their ambitions and aspirations within the NHS and care sector in their local communities.
It's these long term benefits for the people now engaged in their new professional journeys, and the communities they will serve that mean the most to us.
A true partnership approach
The client was open to taking the risk of using a new medium and approach, and trusted us as a consultancy to deliver on their vision
The approach was brave by the client, and allowed us to deliver project outputs of exceptional quality that made a big difference to their objectives.
It was a brilliant project to work on, and one that proves that when you work closely in partnership with a client not only do you achieve immediate results but provide real long-term benefits for the people now on their new professional journeys.
When we say we’re dedicated to doing good, better: this is exactly what we mean!
What our client partner says
“We were delighted to work with Grey Fox to develop bespoke content for our website and also a dedicated careers festival across our integrated Care System.
Showcasing our work has been an enabler to attract more of our local community into education, training and meaningful employment. We would highly recommend Grey Fox – their creativity & professionalism has really enhanced our work’
”
Thanks Clodagh!
To find out more about the project, or to see how we could work together on your next communications challenge, just get in touch.
Thanks so much to Clodagh, Alexandra, and the team at NHS Northwest London. Thanks also to the lovely judges on this category on the UnAwards. And of course, huge thanks to Darren Caveney, for all he does to bring the public sector comms together, and to make the UnAwards happen.
