# Alzheimer’s Society uses integrated campaign to promote Memory Walks

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/07/21/alzheimers-society-uses-integrated-campaign-to-promote-memory-walks/
- Published: 2015-07-21T12:09:10+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Alzheimer’s Society is promoting Memory Walk, its largest annual event, with an
integrated campaign that is running across TV, radio, digital and out-of-home (OOH)
advertising.**

The 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. It launched on 6 July.

 

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**Editor’s note:** _the video previously embedded here (https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=BYgcWjEkKlk) is no longer available._

 

## ‘Walk for the man who has become my carer’

The centrepiece of the campaign is a direct response TV ad. Developed by digital
and direct marketing agency LIDA, the copy is written by the granddaughter of the
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 simple, using real and un-retouched images of the couple.

> ‘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](http://www.memorywalk.org.uk)
website.

 

![Walk for my wife - Alzheimer Society poster advert](https://www.fundraising.co.
uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/alzheimer-society-memory-walk-poster-gran.jpg)

 

The campaign aims to raise £3.3 million. The media strategy and activation has been
handled by M2M, with the aim of supporting all of the key regional walks.

Nicky Bullard, Executive Creative Director of LIDA, commented:

> “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.”

## ‘For her courage, in her confusion’

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.

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