Finalist
British Lung Foundation
Summary of work
2014 was a year of unprecedented success for the British Lung Foundation’s in-house communications team – a year in which targeted multimedia communications campaigns variously raised £1 million to help fight the deadly asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma, secured national awareness of the rare but increasingly common lung disease, Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, for the first time and helped change two laws (to introduce a ban on smoking in cars carrying children and to require all tobacco products to be sold in plain, standardised packaging). Targets for raising the overall media profile of the charity were also well exceeded: the media coverage total for the 2014 calendar year was nearly 5,200 pieces, near doubling the total for the previous year and representing the highest recorded totals in the charity’s history. Achieved with a relatively small team and a shoestring budget (outside of staff costs, less than £200 was spent across the four campaigns), the unparalleled achievements encapsulate the real-world difference to public health that can be achieved through effective communications – exactly what the Communiqué awards were established to celebrate.
Judges’ comments
This fresh young team set very clear objectives and smashed them, with amazing outcomes. They literally changed the law on smoking within cars – outstanding!
