ABOUT

A global study showed that levels of avoidable early death were shockingly high in the UK compared with EU counterparts. A closer look showed significant variations between regions, often not explainable by socio-economic factors. The Secretary of State for Health vowed to bring focus to the data in order to save 30,000 lives in 7 years.
Solution

Tackling early death is about changing lifestyles and behaviours to ensure a healthier population – a tough challenge faced both by our client, Public Health England, and local government, which controls public health budgets.
We asked ourselves how we could not only better present the data, but also provide a useful support resource for local government whilst genuinely grabbing the attention of the general public.
The result was Longer Lives, a website that is engaging for both health professionals and the media. We briefed the media in the hope that they would be inspired by the site and reach the public through TV, radio, written press and online news. We guided local government teams to useful insights and resources to help them plan their response. And we were proactive on social media to guide the conversation.

Results
The launch of Longer Lives attracted coverage in every national newspaper, reaching more than 6 million people, as well as huge coverage in local press and radio. The site featured heavily on national TV, including live interviews on the two terrestrial breakfast shows and Sky News coverage throughout launch day.
The site saw 60,000 unique visitors on launch day, with 12 million social impressions in first 3 days. Visits to existing sites providing more detailed data, increased by 1371%.
All local authorities have since committed to further action against premature mortality in their regions.