Warburtons Use Your Loaf Campaign
Objectives
Did you know? 256 children an hour are taken to hospitals following accidents. At least 700 will die and 10,000 of these will be left disabled. Almost half of these accidents - that’s a million a year – occur in the home and around 40,000 occur on roads. Each year there are in excess of 50,000 home fires in the UK. These account for 46% of all child accident fatalities.
Why? Children are impulsive, adventurous and keen to explore. What’s more, they often don’t know any better.
Warburtons tasked its retained NW PR agency Souters to create and implement an initiative that communicated the importance of ‘safety’ to its target audience – children and parents – and contribute to the reduction of accidents in the community.
Planning
- Research the subject of safety amongst children / statistics of accidents, common causes /threats and how best to get the message across
- Find a reputable, credible and government-approved organisation to partner with for information development & route into schools
- Look for an initiative with potential for media coverage, longevity and national roll out
Implementation
We launched the Use Your Loaf Safety Pack for schools. We linked up with CSEF (the Children’s Safety Education Foundation) who are the UK’s leading publishers of child safety education materials. Excellent partner on content and distribution – established and trusted provider of free resources into schools. Working with the CSEF team we created a logo, a simple resource pack, a set of seven safety sections in line with National Curriculum guidelines. ‘I’ve used my loaf’ stickers and certificates were provided for children together with an incentivised evaluation form for teachers and covering letter, explaining the purpose of the pack and Warburtons involvement.
The seven safety sections were as follows:
- Road safety
- Fire safety
- Home and Garden safety
- Holiday safety
- Transport safety
- Food hygiene - handling food safely
- Personal (including internet) safety
Working with CSEF, Warburtons in-house team and two other partner PR agencies in Yorkshire and the North East, Souters identified 450 primary schools – key stage 1 (5-7 year olds) to take part in the pilot scheme – 150 from each region. The schools were approached with a letter from Chairman Jonathan Warburton in partnership with CSEF to make sure head teachers were happy to receive the materials. (99% take up)
Once drafted, a panel of primary school teachers vetted each section of the resource pack in advance before being finally signed-off. First section and folder was distributed with clear instructions about when to expect follow-up sections, which then came at regular termly intervals. The last sections were delivered May 2006. We followed up with telephone calls to make sure they had arrived and were being used.
Road safety officers, fire brigades and government ministers endorsed the project and supported media activity.
Creative input
The emphasis throughout was on creating a fun way of learning. Our cheeky, ‘boy’ logo was intended to be memorable and appeal to kids, while also endorsing the serious ‘think, use your loaf’ message. The resources were presented in an imaginative format, with a mix of role-play and individual work. The company branding was deliberately low key. The initiative also lent itself well to creative photography and was fun for schools and media to get involved with.
Budget
The total budget for the project was £40,000.
Results
- Resources created and distributed to 445 schools
- At least 50% take up with a further 20% expressing intent to use via follow-up telephone evaluatione
- Number of 5-7 year olds reached in 222 schools (key stage 1 – three classes x 35) – 23,310 children exposed to materials
- 100 evaluation forms back from teachers using the materials with positive feedback and input to future packs. E-mail feedback into useyourloaf@warburtons.co.uk
- 28 pieces of print coverage across three regions, extending reach and understanding
- National roll out of the resources, which are now ownloadable via Warburtons website, potentially available to 24,000 schools
Feedback
Very useful, children enjoyed doing the activities
St Benedicts Primary School, Garforth
Simplicity of info should be easy to retain
Dyffryn Il primary school, Llandegla, nr Wrexham
Pupils reacted positively. Promoted useful class discussions
Godwinsway Primary School, York
