The challenge

Macmillan Cancer Support set ambitious targets in terms of service provision and delivery. A new direction in brand advertising was needed to build awareness of services and urgent need for support, whilst maintaining key brand attributes such as warmth, support, empathy and trust.

What we did

nfpSynergy was commissioned to conduct research exploring this territory alongside the core pillars of brand advertising testing. We looked at the effect on perceptions of Macmillan and the views and preferences for alternative creative approaches.

We conducted six focus groups among people living with cancer, people affected by cancer and supporters of Macmillan. This approach softened the boundaries between the different types of audience. We also conducted 12 individual in-depth interviews.

Our impact

The research generated a number of key insights about aspects of the creative approaches which were working well, less well and critically why. Collating the thoughts, feelings and responses of the target audience gave a clearer idea of the challenges and rewards of different approaches and better equipped them to develop the creative in a way which will deliver.