British Heart Foundation Runs Heart-Stopping Disruptive Audio Campaign with Global

To raise awareness of the British Heart Foundation’s funding of research to find the first cures for genetic cardiomyopathies (inherited heart muscle diseases that can cause the heart to stop suddenly, or cause progressive heart failure in young people), Omnicom Media Group’s PHD has partnered the charity with Global, the media & entertainment group, to create a heart-stopping audio campaign on the Heart radio network and Global Original podcasts.

On Monday 1st August, commercial ads were unexpectedly ‘stopped’ throughout the day with the sound of a beeping heart monitor that eventually flatlines - the shocking but familiar long tone a monitor makes when alerting medical staff to someone’s heartbeat stopping.

The heart monitor sound interrupted ads from well-known brands including Sainsbury’s, On the Beach, heycar, Admiral Insurance, Dunelm, Cazoo, and Checkatrade, followed by a British Heart Foundation message detailing the impact of genetic cardiomyopathy and how the charity is funding research that aims to find a game-changing cure to stop the diseases from stopping hearts.

In addition to PHD securing the participation of other brands across its client base, Global worked with Goodstuff Communications to secure advertisers to take part in the disruptive campaign.

As part of the campaign, the BHF’s CEO, Dr Charmaine Griffiths, will also appear on Shelagh Fogarty’s LBC show to discuss the charity’s work.

The campaign coincides with the announcement of the BHF’s largest ever research grant - £30m to CureHeart, a global collective of scientists from the UK, the US and Singapore who are pioneering revolutionary and ultra-precise gene therapy technologies that could silence or edit the faulty genes that cause inherited heart muscle diseases.

Claire Sadler, chief marketing and fundraising officer at the British Heart Foundation said, “Genetic cardiomyopathies are unseen killers. Every week in the UK, 12 people under the age of 35 die of a sudden cardiac arrest, often caused by one of these inherited heart muscle diseases.

“The partnership which PHD and Global have created for us is the perfect blend of message and medium that will grab attention and allow an important message to be delivered in an impactful, unexpected way at a national scale.”

Claire Bullock, business director at PHD, said, “There are some great ideas that, on paper, look too difficult to pull off. This could have been one of them, but we’ve had the delight of working with a client and a media partner who aren’t fazed by making difficult things happen.

“We’re looking forward to hearing weeks of hard work and collaboration come to life and grab listeners’ attention across the UK.”

Katie Bowden, Global’s director of commercial for audio said, “This campaign shows the unique ability audio offers to deliver something impactful, creative and attention-grabbing. We are really pleased to be partnering with the British Heart Foundation to help deliver this important awareness raising message. A live radio and podcast audience is fully immersed in the content so this disruptive campaign will stop people in their tracks.”