ABOUT

Creative features grandparents of LIDA employee.

London. 6th July 2015. Digital and direct marketing agency LIDA has created a moving integrated campaign that inspires people to walk and raise money for Alzheimer Society’s Memory Walk – the charity’s biggest annual event. The new work – scheduled to break 6th July – will run across TV, radio, OOH and digital.

Dementia is one of the UK’s biggest health challenges, and it has been estimated that by 2021 one million people will be living with the disease. The new campaign, targeting women aged between 35 and 64, aims to increase the number of participants taking part in Memory Walks across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to raise awareness of dementia. The media strategy and activation has been handled by M2M.

M2M have developed a multimedia strategy that will support all of the key regional walks, as the society seeks to increase awareness of the event and drive participation.

The centrepiece of the campaign is a direct response TV ad. Developed by LIDA, the copy is written by the granddaughter of the actual couple who feature. It is the plea of a woman living with dementia, asking people to walk for her devoted husband who has been by her side throughout. The execution is deliberately low-fi, using real and un-retouched images of the couple and accompanied by a simple, honest piano track.

‘Walk for the man who has become my carer; for the man who is my voice when I can’t find the words; for the man who kept his promise to love me to the end.’

The scene closes with a current photograph of the couple, with a call to action to sign up to take part in the walk, driving viewers to the Memory Walk website.

Nicky Bullard, Executive Creative Director of LIDA, added: “The challenge was to create compelling work on a shoestring. Work that didn’t just ask people to walk, but moved them to walk. There’s no fancy tech here, just a simple, powerful and real story about a devoted husband, a woman in the midst of the condition and a granddaughter who misses her Nan.”

Building on the TV ad, LIDA also created a series of OOH executions focusing on the same couple. For example one of the prints ‘walk for my wife’ features an old black and white photograph of the young couple, this time with words by the husband to his wife:


‘For my love, who’s been by my side for over 50 years. For her courage, in her confusion; for her humour, in our hardest times; for our lifetime of memories, too many forgotten; for a world without dementia’

The last line encourages people to join a local walk this September with a link to the campaign website.

Jon Bodenham, Director of Fundraising at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “With the growing number of people living with dementia in the UK, it is crucial that we continue to raise awareness around the condition. Taking part in a Memory Walk this autumn is a chance for everyone to come together, celebrate loved ones affected by dementia, and raise money to fund vital research and services for people living with the condition. This year, we’re hoping to attract more walkers and raise more money than ever before and we believe the Memory Walk campaign will be an important tool to reach out and inspire people to participate.”

Alistair MacCallum, Chief Executive Officer of M2M, added: “We are proud to be working with the Alzheimer’s Society on their flagship fundraising event. This is a very powerful campaign that we believe will impact on both understanding of the issue and encourage more people to get involved.”