The behaviour change team at Four was appointed by the Department for Education to develop an integrated campaign to raise awareness of a range of new childcare benefits available to support families and inspire them to take action.
We delivered creative strategy, advertising, PR, partnership, experiential and influencer marketing that drove high engagement and real impact. Under the government equal opportunity mission childcare support has expanded and continues to grow, meaning more families now qualify for expanded benefits. Our job was to engage and persuade busy parents to make the most of the support available.
Working closely with the research agency to build insights and test creative, we built understanding of the barriers to engagement and identified interventions we could deploy within our communication campaign. We refined the campaign messages and tone to recognise both the joys and juggle involved in family life.
Alongside traditional hard-working channels like OOH (out of home), we deployed innovative thinking across digital audio and influencer engagement while a second phase of the campaign saw us commission renowned children’s book illustrator Nick Sharratt. Nick created a bespoke piece for the campaign, unveiled through a live jigsaw installation at Manchester Arndale.
Families contributed tiles to complete the artwork, reinforcing themes of collaboration and early learning. The PR and partnership team at Four drove high levels of media coverage and support across national and consumer media.
Post-campaign independent evaluation showed significant increases in awareness and understanding and vitally, a 33% annual rise in eligible child registrations.
