Wellcome Collection’s Campaign Asks People to Question Health Differently
Wellcome Collection, the museum and library dedicated to exploring health and human experience, has launched a new destination campaign. In response to research highlighting public perceptions that museums are expensive and exclusive, the campaign positions Wellcome Collection as a free, inclusive, and innovative space in central London.
Created by Nice and Serious, the campaign invites people to challenge their preconceptions of health and explore what it means to be human. It aims to capture the energy and spirit of the multi-faceted museum, library and unique collection, as well as demonstrate their commitment to being open and accessible to everyone.
Zoe Gibson Quirk, senior strategist at Nice and Serious says, “To ensure the campaign was built from sharp insights, we designed an inclusive and immersive research approach - including on-site interviews, on-street vox pops, and a Creative Council made up of a diverse group of people, from frequent visitors to those who had never been before. The council helped shape our approach and were consulted throughout the project to strengthen the work
The research revealed an audience of ‘culture snackers’ - those seeking quick, easy visits to cultural spaces that shift their perspective. So our strategy set the direction for a campaign that would spark interest in people willing to consider new ideas and angles on health to raise awareness of this unique space for discovery.”
The creative concept is built around one of Wellcome Collection’s defining traits - its invitation to question. Messaging throughout the campaign is centred around open-ended prompts, designed to spark individual responses and encourage people to see the experience of health from different perspectives.
Peter Larkin, creative director at Nice and Serious says, “Every time we visited Wellcome Collection, we always came away with so many more questions about what health means to us. We got to see the experience of health from so many different perspectives. And so through the campaign, we wanted to bottle up that feeling as a way to draw more people in.
We noticed the small question cards that Wellcome Collection uses to encourage visitors to share their reflections of the experience, and these became the inspiration for the visual direction of the campaign. These vibrant cards were pasted on and layered with imagery to represent the many different questions that you find yourself wondering.
With the photography direction, we wanted to break down any misconceptions of what a museum space is like by highlighting all the interactivity Wellcome Collection has to offer. We cast models from an inclusive talent agency to make sure our audience could see themselves there. We created a framework for developing questions that would invite the widest range of responses and co-created these with the Wellcome Collection team.”
Anna Cornelius, head of communications and marketing at Wellcome Collection says, “Wellcome Collection’s vision - a world where everyone’s experience of health matters - is at the heart of this campaign. We aim to open up our free exhibitions, events, and spaces to more people, reflecting our commitment to being an accessible and inclusive cultural destination. Working with Nice and Serious has brought that vision to life through a bold and creative campaign that communicates the spirit of Wellcome Collection in an engaging and ambitious way. Through this campaign, we hope to encourage more people to visit - whether they’re discovering us for the first time or returning to explore something new.”
The campaign launches with a multi-channel rollout, including out-of-home placements across the local area, London Underground, National Rail, and bus panels, digital activations including audio ads on Spotify and promoted posts on Meta, and on-site elements including banners.
