Healthcare Charities, Patient Associations & the NHS
80% of UK men have a pet name for their penis, yet only 10% have heard of penile cancer and its symptoms. This gap is costing men their lives. So, we enlisted comedy icon Sir Stephen Fry to front an outrageous mixed media celebration of the nation’s “Dicknames” – from “Tiny Tim” to “Big Ben”.
Open about his own intimate health battle, Sir Stephen helped prove laughter is the ultimate tool for getting men to pay more attention to theirs. So no one has to find out about penile cancer the hard way.
Judges’ comments
VERY creative, brave and effective, this campaign added lots of humour – and used it responsibly – to raise awareness of a previously unknown cancer. Earned reach was secured on a shoestring budget and drove measurable behaviour change. The effect on the public has been huge, with over-delivery on targets for searches, site views and, importantly, downloads of the symptom checker – leading to a known GP referral already. Also amazing has been the benefit to the charity, in bringing clear potential to scale through clinical and media partners.
The judges enjoyed the very moving and personal pitch from the team, with answers to each question hitting the mark and altogether demonstrating that this was a courageous campaign based on a clever insight with real influence. The purpose was clear and meaningful, and SMART objectives were present and clearly exceeded. Judges acknowledged how the team deftly achieved a perfect use of humour without becoming vulgar, and to great effect. The reach, given the minimal 10k cost, was impressive with excellent use of both paid and earned media working symbiotically. Brilliant way to bring penile cancer, and The Urology Foundation, to the forefront. Memorable and huge impact!
Eva-Marie Reiss, Takeda
Hyperammonaemia is a life-threatening medical emergency where unrecognised symptoms lead to tragic, preventable deaths. The multi-channel “Think Ammonia!” campaign directly targets the critical issue of delayed diagnosis in inherited metabolic disorders (IMDs).
Driven by UK hospital FOI data and community insight, this campaign delivered clinical guidance, expert-led toolkits, and lived-experience storytelling to frontline clinicians and global audiences. Reaching over 150,000 individuals, educating 5,780+ healthcare professionals across 29 events, and embedding resources within Royal College training pathways, this initiative bridges critical knowledge gaps to standardise testing practices, accelerate acute diagnosis, and save lives globally.
73% of stage 4 bowel cancer patients report feeling isolated, yet support often focuses on early diagnosis. Co-created with Bowel Cancer UK, Stage4You provides an insight-led, emotionally responsive platform organised around how people feel, not just clinical stage.
In March 2026, a Self-Awareness Day campaign leveraged Bowel Cancer Awareness Month to give patients permission to step back from overwhelming awareness content and protect their mental wellbeing. This nuanced, patient-led approach helped people feel seen and supported, while delivering measurable impact: a 470% platform traffic uplift, 178% increase in return visits and 212M+ earned press reach.
Stage4You: Helping people living with stage 4 bowel cancer find the information they need, when they need it – for Takeda UK, in partnership with Bowel Cancer UK, by Burson.
Research conducted by Chiesi and Metabolic Support highlighted that 80% of people living with rare diseases felt that they were not being authentically represented in healthcare communications and wanted to see images of people like themselves in materials rather than stock imagery.
The True Faces of Rare campaign was initiated to drive change and turn a conversation about representation into a movement for change.
Planning this year’s campaign, we asked ourselves what we most wanted to achieve. The answer was simple and obvious. We need more people to know the answer to the campaign’s simple but challenging question “What Is Neurofibromatosis?” and how to find our help. Neurofibromatosis (NF) affects 26,500+ people across the UK but there is still a significant lack of awareness.
Alongside this text, the campaign’s visual heart was an illustration of the human nervous system, pulsing to represent the often-invisible reality of chronic pain associated with NF, sparking curiosity and empathy in passers-by, motivating them to look beyond the long name and discover the human stories behind it.
