Kirkwood Hospice: Snowdogs Support Life

How do we showcase a community initiative being pioneered by a local hospice to raise awareness of their vital work?

Kirkwood Hospice provides specialist care to those who have life limiting illnesses, as well as support to their families and friends to provide quality care and improve the quality of life of those with serious illnesses.

Opened in 1987, the Hospice serves the whole of the Kirklees region as a place where people can get the care and support they need. Hospices offer a crucial service to those affected by life limiting conditions and many are reliant on fundraising in order to provide the best quality care.

Inspired by the much-loved animated film, the Snowman and the Snowdog, the sequel to the classic Raymond Briggs' book The Snowman, Snowdog sculptures were created. The story of the Snowman and the Snowdog incorporates themes such as love and loss, which relate to the emotions of hospice users and their families, as well as promoting a message of kindness and hope.

The 60 Sculptures were brought to Kirklees over an 8 week period as a trail to connect communities to the Kirkwood Hospice, and provide an awareness for the care through the positive and fun experience of going on the trail.

Each large Snowdog was designed by local artists, and accompanying each was a pup, which were given to local schools and community groups, who would fundraise for the hospice. The sponsoring of the Snowdogs by businesses helped establish connections between the hospice, local businesses, local schools and the local community more widely. The trail also offered a great reason to explore the wonderful towns and villages across Kirklees.

Objectives

The primary objective of this campaign was to:

- Encourage people to take part in the Snowdog trail and raise awareness of the hospice’s vital work

Strategy and Execution

 Key to the campaign's success was ensuring that the message of the Snowdog trail was spread across the Kirklees area, and as such bus advertising offered a perfect solution.

Buses offered a great opportunity to advertise the Snowdog trail across the areas where the Snowdogs would be situated. Buses are a widely seen medium with up to 94% of the population seeing them and so were a logical strategy in creating a high impact awareness campaign.

Bus rears also offered an additional benefit with the potential for overshow, where an advert remains posted beyond the booked period, meaning the campaign is effectively extended without additional cost. This is what happened here.   

The strategy included:

• A 4-week bus advertising campaign with a specific focus on Huddersfield and Heckmondwike

Reaching the Community

Utilising bus rears for this campaign was an excellent solution, driving frequency and reach. Buses travel 100 miles a day on average, this combined with their all day presence means we spoke to people across the region whether they were early morning commuters or evening socialisers. 

The Ark Media supported Kirkwood Hospice in unleashing its creativity with a campaign which engaged with residents across Kirklees through an interesting message and a well chosen media. We showed what can be achieved when key audiences are reached with the right advertising for a great community cause. 

One of the Snowdogs in front of Huddersfield Train Station