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Acart wins EXCEL award for increasing awareness and action on elder abuse more...
Acart wins EXCEL award for increasing awareness and action on elder abuse
Ottawa, June 1, 2010 - Acart Communications won The Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) Award for the Social Responsibility campaign category at the 2010 IABC Ottawa Excel Awards Gala. The Elder Abuse Awareness campaign (TV, print, Internet) produced by Acart for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) resulted in significant and measurable gains for this important social issue.
Elder abuse is not as well understood as it should be in Canada, but the Acart HRSDC campaign — launched in June 2009 — was able to “move the needle” significantly on this social issue. The Elder Abuse Awareness campaign is ongoing, and will be seen again in the fall.
Elder abuse exists in many forms, but primarily as financial, physical, emotional or psychological abuse. Less common forms include sexual abuse, systemic abuse (ageism), spiritual abuse, neglect and self neglect. Elder abuse can also present itself in many ways — an empty bank account, stolen property, bruises and injuries and in other less obvious forms such as anxiety and depression.
Ads put the viewer in the story
The creative approach and concept were based on the idea of putting the viewer in the place of a neighbour observing elder abuse from his or her home. The idea was to convey the need to look out for both overt and subtle forms of abuse among friends, neighbours and relatives, and then take action rather than “turning a blind eye”.
The TV ad showed dramatic recreations of three common types of abuse: emotional, financial, and physical. These mini-plays, viewed from the blinds, help convey the emotional damage abuse inflicts on victims. Print and Internet executions presented emotive images, but added hard facts that would further engage and motivate readers.
Impressive results
A post-campaign evaluation* to assess the effectiveness of the Elder Abuse national public awareness campaign showed 58% total aided recall, 53% unaided recall and 54% aided TV recall. The Government of Canada benchmark for aided recall is 36%.
Furthermore, of the total number of Canadians who recalled the campaign unaided, 38% were able to recall and comprehend the types of elder abuse (psychological, financial and physical) portrayed in the TV commercial — a critical element of the campaign strategy.
Of Canadians who recalled the campaign without prompting, 9% said they took specific action as a direct result: 72% of these said they discussed the ads with others; 4% called or visited their mother; and 3% called 1 800 O-Canada to order a brochure.
“This campaign delivered beyond our wildest expectations”, said Peter Martin, advertising manager at HRSDC. “It got people talking about the issue and more importantly, taking action”.
For more information about the campaign, and to see examples of the creative, contact PR@acart.com or visit our web site at www.acart.com.
* Random Digit Dialing survey of the Canadian Gen Pop 18+ conducted by TNS Canadian Facts between October 28 and November 8, 2009. Sample size: n=734. The Province of Quebec ran its own separate campaign and so was not included.