Engaging thousands to sign up to a Tinnitus Biobank for Tinnitus UK

Highlight outcomes

The Background

Tinnitus - the perception of noises in the ear/head - affects 7.1m people in the UK. Tinnitus can severely impact mental health and published studies have suggested a link with suicidal thoughts. There is no cure for tinnitus.

Two years ago, Evergreen PR supported Tinnitus UK to launch the Tinnitus Manifesto, outlining the priorities for tinnitus research. The campaign generated 130,000 petition signatures, a debate in the House of Lords and led to Matt Hancock supporting the establishment of a new working group. However, following changes in government, there had been a loss of momentum.

The Target Outcome

After developing a business plan for a Tinnitus Biobank, Tinnitus UK commissioned Evergreen PR to help them reignite the conversation and achieve the following business objectives within three months of launch:

Attract 1,000 people with tinnitus to register their interest in sharing their hearing and health data for the Tinnitus Biobank project
Engage at least one research funder in an initial conversation about funding the £4m Tinnitus Biobank

The Evergreen MERTO Insight

Our research, which included a literature review of published studies, a COM-B behavioural analysis of our target audiences and Power Interest assessment to inform prioritisation, uncovered a number of key insights:

Studies suggested a low understanding of what biobanks are and how they work, which could significantly hamper sign-ups
The media focus on Covid-19, healthcare waiting lists and more well-known conditions like cancer risked calls for a Tinnitus Biobank being ignored
Public trust in scientists had increased during the Covid-19 pandemic and there was increased belief in the potential for science to uncover effective treatments and cures

The Evergreen MERTO Strategy

Our idea was:

Bring to life the amazing difference a Tinnitus Biobank could make for people struggling with the condition through the combination of hard-hitting mental health data, human stories from people with tinnitus and academics searching for cures, and high quality educational content that encourages people to ‘sign up’.

Our campaign involved the following steps:

Uncover a powerful new statistic showing that nearly one in 10 people with tinnitus had had suicidal or self harm thoughts since the onset of the pandemic. This was generated through a questionnaire we developed, that was shared with the Tinnitus UK community.
Make this real, human and highly emotive by giving people with tinnitus the platform to share their experiences of how tinnitus impacts their mental health, while enabling trusted tinnitus scientists to reveal what a difference a Tinnitus Biobank would make to their studies.
Produce the Sound Of Science: the urgent need for a Tinnitus Biobank - a white paper report outlining the key scientific evidence, discussion points and calls for change.
Increase understanding of what a biobank is, what it would enable and how people with tinnitus can sign-up, using an animated explainer video. This was the centre-piece of an educational online suite comprising an animation, the report and the Tinnitus Biobank sign-up form and was created with our design partners at Everything’s Fine.
Drive people to this page with a hard-hitting media campaign targeting national news titles, supported by social and online content. Our media package incorporated our impactful new data, a case study who was ready to talk about the impact of tinnitus on her mental health, an academic who could describe how this facility would aid his research and a white paper report with a clear Call To Action, sending people to the campaign landing page.
Develop a series of letters to be sent by the charity’s Chief Executive to research-funders and decision-makers to introduce them to the concept of the Tinnitus Biobank.

The Evergreen MERTO Impact

This campaign had a tangible impact on people's health and delivered more than the outcomes that our client had asked for:

The target of 1,000 people registering their interest within the first two months was achieved by 3pm on the first day! By the end of the week, 3,500 people had signed up.
After receiving a letter, the Medical Research Council - the UK’s biggest medical research funder - invited the charity’s Chief Executive to a meeting to discuss collaborating on a Tinnitus Biobank.
The National Institute of Health Research - the UK’s second biggest research funder - described the white paper as “an important and clear message”.
A leading university requested a meeting to discuss the feasibility of a Tinnitus Biobank.

There were also some great outputs:

The campaign secured 172 press articles, including some 16 nationals. It featured on BBC Breakfast TV and was “one of the most read” stories of the day on BBC News. It also featured on BBC Radio 1, Radio 5Live and was covered by The Times, the Independent, The Metro, Evening Standard, Daily Express and more. The estimated actual readership (Coveragebook) was 2.3m.

The Tinnitus Week website was visited 20,000 times in week 1 - with 1 in 5 signing up.
The #TinnitusWeek hashtag attracted 8.6m interactions and content was shared by the Welsh Chief Medical Officer and Age UK among others.
The educational Tinnitus Biobank animation was viewed 19,000 times in the first week - double the target set.

“Wow! A hugely impressive range of work. We loved the simple, clear call to action and desired objective, which was achieved. Very clear, simple programme that connected an isolated community and raised not only awareness but ambition for change. Well done!”

— PR Week Healthcare Awards Judges