Bauer Media Outdoor highlights unpaid carers with the launch of the ‘This Counts As Care’ campaign

The Creative Shootout 2024 winner, MullenLowe, unveils the new integrated campaign, entitled This Counts As Care, on digital screens nationwide.

Since the award's announcement, a creative team from the integrated marketing agency has been working with Creative Shootout Charity of the Year 2024, Carers UK,  on the new campaign, which will go live across multiple channels this week.

The This Counts As Care campaign aims to cut in half the time it takes for individuals to recognise themselves as unpaid carers and access essential support earlier.

Following the insight that many carers believe their actions are simply a natural part of family life, MullenLowe developed the strategic direction: all forms of caring count, regardless of the relationship, and placed families at the core of the creative platform.

The new This Counts As Care creative highlights the often-unseen shift in relationships, whether among family, friends, or neighbours, where one person becomes an unpaid carer. Many don't identify as carers because they still see themselves as a loved one or friend —something 71% of carers took time to recognise. The creative includes a retro photo of a father bathing their infant child, cutting to a grown-up daughter now needing to wash her older father.

The campaign launches on 2 September across Bauer Media Outdoor's digital screens nationwide and is accompanied by a television commercial produced by Eleanor Films and Chris Chuky for SKY Media, print and digital ads from The Guardian, and audio content across the Acast podcasting network.

Simultaneously, a PR campaign supported by news generation agency 72Point and broadcast PR agency, Markettiers, will see Carers UK Chief Executive Helen Walker undertake broadcast interviews.

The Creative Shootout confirmed Bauer Media Outdoor as its official Out of Home media partner in early 2024, underscoring its commitment to being a Platform for Good by using Out of Home as a powerful medium to support and amplify charitable efforts.

Helen Walker, Chief Executive at Carers UK comments: “Being The Creative Shootout’s Charity of the Year and working with an agency like MullenLowe truly is a game-changer for us. The creative that the MullenLowe team has developed is a long-term platform for us and will make a huge difference to the way unpaid carers see themselves, how society views caring, and the support we can provide.” Nicky Bullard, MullenLowe Group Chief Creative Officer comments, “Over the last seven months we’ve worked incredibly closely with Carers UK, and it’s been a privilege for the team to better understand the incredible work they do, and the communications challenge they face. This creative is driven by such strong real-world insight that we think it will really break through to the millions of carers out there who simply don’t recognise themselves as a carer.”

The Creative Shootout was founded by creative and charity entrepreneur Johnny Pitt in 2016 and is run by the creative brand PR agency, Launch PR.  Nominations for the eighth instalment of The Creative Shootout open for agency entry on 23 September 2024. Visit the award's website for more information on how to enter.