Situation
Save the Children UK is currently ranked 21st in The Charity Brand Index, 6th in the Children and Young People Sector, and 4th in the International Aid Sector. They aspire to be more than this, so that they can do more for children.
They recognised they needed to make a step change and raise their sights and ambitions. Their aim is become ‘Britain’s favourite charity’ by 2012.
Oystercatchers worked with SCUK’s team to select the optimal agency for the challenge. It was agreed that three things needed to happen before the agency selection process could begin:
- To develop a clear definition of ‘Britain’s favourite charity’ and the criteria by which success would be measured.
- To focus on SCUK’s resources behind the ambition – both financial and human.
- Alignment of all internal stakeholders behind the vision, the goal, the definition and the potential value that success could deliver in the longer term.
Action
Once these key issues had been fully discussed and debated by the full internal team, a detailed brief could be written. Agency relationships (past and present) and experiences (good and bad) were taken into consideration and a list of candidate agencies recommended for chemistry meetings.
A shortlist of two agencies was selected to pitch and a significant part of the process was half day workshops with each agency and the marketing team.
Outcome
The workshops gave a fuller experience of what it would be like for both sides working together and an opportunity for the agency team to demonstrate the depth of their skill.
At the final presentations both of the agencies presented full creative recommendations. Oystercatchers brought the SCUK team together straight after the last presentation. Although both were excellent, the decision was unanimous and we called the Adam & Eve team back into the room to tell them the good news. SCUK are now on the journey to becoming ‘Britain’s favourite charity’.