Smoking Gun has been appointed by the North West Ambulance Service to manage a ‘back-to-basics’ communications campaign to re-educate people in the region on the correct way to use the emergency service.
Following year-on-year increases of people calling 999, a campaign is being launched by North West Ambulance Services to inform and educate people on what classes as a life-threatening condition.
The agency was appointed following a three-way pitch process and will launch the first part of the campaign ahead of Christmas, which is typically an extremely busy time for the emergency services.
Smoking Gun, which this year scooped two global awards for excellence in measurement and evaluation at the AMEC Awards, will manage a multi-platform campaign based around one of the earliest forms of education – fairytales.
Speaking about the appointment, North West Ambulance Service’s Head of Communications and Engagement, Julie Treharne, said: “We know the importance of delivering this extremely important message using a positive and relatable tone of voice, so when Smoking Gun suggested using fairytales we knew it would communicate our key messages effectively.
“Smoking Gun has a reputation for delivering work that has a genuine impact, and we are pleased to work with them on this project.”
Talking about the campaign, Smoking Gun’s managing director, Rick Guttridge, continued: “It’s an honour to be working with such an important service, and we hope that our campaign makes a tangible difference to the volume of non-emergency calls received, freeing up the time of paramedics and call-handlers.
“The campaign needs to educate people in a positive tone of voice, which is why we turned to fairytales as our inspiration. Fairytales are often one of the first ways children learn about social challenges and dilemmas, plus they are instantly recognisable and memorable.”
