St John Ambulance: The art of action and the science of scaring

Matt Hoban and Carl Mueller

This case study describes how St John Ambulance, the first aid charity in the UK, used behavioural economics to increase the numbers of people with first aid skills.

St John Ambulance: The art of action and the science of scaring

Matt Hoban and Carl MuellerBBH London

Summary

This is a story about communications that powerfully combine the science and creativity of advertising. It proves that the two are not mutually exclusive, but can combine to dramatic effect.

It is a paper about the science of framing and its potential to deliver existing messages in more impactful ways.

In 2010, St John Ambulance evolved its communications model to deliver first-aid skills and inspire uptake by equating them with the difference between life and death. This brought unprecedented levels...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands