How an experiential digital campaign made

10 million people think differently about autism

Tom MaddersHead of Campaigns and

Community Engagement

@TomMadders

Chrystyna Chymera-HollowayHead of Insight and Strategic Marketing

@ChrystynaNAS

5

THE NEED

When asked, parents said that their

child’s autism was often or sometimes

misinterpreted as naughty (75%),

strange (75%) or funny (71%)

28% of autistic

people have

been asked to

leave a public

place

The public stare (88%),

tut or make

disapproving noises /

gestures (74%), or

actively avoid people

on the spectrum (71%)

70% of parents and 79% of autistic people

feel socially isolated

50% sometimes or often feel unable to

leave the house because they are worried

about how others will respond to their autism

40% of parents and 54% autistic people

have lost friends because of how they’ve

responded to autism

36% of parents and 44% autistic people

have lost a job for reasons relating to autism

51% feel lonely and 41% would like more

friends

THE SOCIAL

IMPACT

Us

Friends (like us)

Family

“We’re in a bubble,

an autistic bubble,

thank God” Mother of Autistic Child

PEOPLE TOLD US THEIR

WORLD SHRINKS

“So now my children

don’t see doctors or

paediatricians at all,

yes, they don’t go to

doctor's” Mother of Autistic Child

“You just avoid the

situation, so we’ve

closed ourselves off

from the world” Mother of Autistic Child

“I stay at home, and

if there’s too much

banter I can go

upstairs” Autistic Adult

“You become

smaller and your

world becomes a lot

smaller” Mother of Autistic Child

5

THE SOLUTION

The Aim:To improve the lives of people with

autism and their families by changing

public perceptions, attitudes and

behaviour towards them.

Targets:

• Real understanding of autism (5%

increase)

• Behavioral change (5% increase)

KEY INSIGHT

When people make a

connection between

the behaviours and

autism it triggers a

natural desire to

behave with empathy

(rather than

judgement).

‘TOO MUCH INFORMATION’

5

THE CAMPAIGN

HEARTBEAT AND HERO CONTENT

AUTHENTIC CONTENT

LAUNCH FILM

CAN YOU MAKE IT TO THE END?

GUARDIAN PARTNERSHIP

DIGITAL BANNERS & LENTICULAR

WEBSITE

MAP

VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE

5

THE RESULTS

All the following stats were recorded in the first 4 months that the

campaign was live.

HOW HAS IT DONE?

AVERAGE 4% ENGAGEMENT

RATE

SOCIALGROWTH

24K+ 110K+4K+

HERO FILM 56M+ VIEWS1M SHARES

25,000 CAMPAIGN SIGN-

UPS

26% GROWTH IN AWARENESS

VS. 0.7% av. for charity

content

16% SHIFT IN

UNDERSTANDING

Guardian readers

NFP

328,478 page-views

2 mins 13 secs dwell time

33,943 shares

GUARDIAN CONTENT

WHAT WE LEARNED

INVEST IN GREAT

CONTENTAND

SEEDING

MAKE ABSOLUTELY

SURE OF YOUR

RESEARCH INSIGHTS

DATA CAPTURE ISN’T CRUCIAL

TO AWARENESS

MEDIA PARTNERSHIP

CAN GROW DEPTH OF

UNDERSTANDING

PROS AND CONS TO

USING NEW TECH

INTERNAL COMMS

AND BACKING ARE VITAL

Visit the CharityComms website to

view slides from past events, see

what events we have coming up

and to check out what else we do:

www.charitycomms.org.uk

27 October 2016London#charitydigital

Digital

conference