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| Keep Warm This Winter Campaign is a major social marketing initiative aimed at increasing public awareness of the dangers posed by cold weather and encouraging preventative measures to avoid ill health. This research-based evaluation was carried out by the Social Research Unit at System Three and is intended to inform decision-making about the future of the initiative. |
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| Main Findings |
- There was a high level of recognition of the campaign name among the general public (61%), but prompted awareness of the specific publicity materials, such as the poster or television announcement, was much lower (at 21% and 38%, respectively).
- The total number of calls handled by Helpline operators in 1997/98 was significantly lower than in the two previous years (36% lower than in 1996/97 and 58% lower than 1995/96), though this decrease appears to have been largely a function of temperature rather than a failing on the part of the campaign.
- The profile of callers to the Helpline remains dominated by older people (some 45% were over 60 years of age), but the campaign appears to be less successful in attracting calls from the other main target groups - people with disabilities and parents of young children.
- Agencies which have had direct contact with the campaign tend to value the service it offers, but are relatively few in number. Only 54% agencies reported having seen KWTW materials in 1997/98 and, of these, very few had made direct contact with the Helpline.
- Overall, the campaign is clearly valued by those who use it - individual users and agencies were largely positive about both the Helpline and the booklet. The challenge remains to maximise the number of people who do take advantage of its services - and that may require a more flexible approach to publicity for the campaign.
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| Introduction |
| Keep Warm This Winter Campaign is a major social marketing initiative aimed at increasing public awareness of the dangers posed by cold weather and encouraging preventative measures to avoid ill health. |
| The 1997/98 campaign ran from 27 October to 31 March and was operated on behalf of The Scottish Office, as in previous years, by Network Scotland. The core of the campaign consists of a freephone Helpline and an information booklet, but these are also accompanied by a substantial promotional element. |
| The evaluation drew on two main sources: existing monitoring information collated by Network Scotland; and a variety of research-based information, including surveys of the general public, individual users and agencies in receipt of campaign materials, and qualitative work with people from the main target groups. |
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| Publicising the campaign |
| In the survey of the general public, 61% of respondents said that they had heard of 'Keep Warm This Winter', but prompted awareness of specific campaign materials (e.g. the poster or television announcement) was considerably lower. This suggests that respondents may recognise the name while knowing little about the campaign itself, or may be confusing KWTW advertising with similar features or campaigns run by the utility companies or The Scottish Office. |
| The highest levels of awareness of the campaign name were found among respondents aged 35 to 44 (70%) and the lowest levels among those aged 55 and over (56%). |
| Three-quarters of the agencies surveyed (76%) were aware of the KWTW Helpline, rising to 95% among energy advice and care and repair organisations. Only just over half of the agencies surveyed (54%) reported having seen the poster and reply-paid cards. |
| While 61% of the general public said they were aware of the campaign, only 21% recalled seeing the KWTW poster. Those aged 55 and over were least likely to have seen the poster (17% having done so). Awareness was higher, however, among households with young children (at 24%). Members of the public were most likely to have seen the poster on display at a GP's surgery (25%), or at a library or Post Office (each 8%). |
| From the focus groups, it was apparent that GPs' surgeries, post offices and council offices were seen as sensible locations for the poster, though a number of other possible locations were also mentioned, including buses, nurseries and play groups, lunch clubs and day centres. |
| The design of the poster was widely seen as bland and insufficiently eye-catching. Among suggested improvements were better use of colour, pictures and a more direct use of questions - e.g. 'are you warm enough?'. It was also suggested that greater emphasis should be given to the fact that the Helpline is free, since some participants felt that they might otherwise be deterred from calling. |
| Although the television announcement had limited coverage, almost 4 in 10 of the general public (38%) reported that they had seen the 'Box 2000' announcement. Again, awareness was lowest among those aged 55 and over (at 35%) and highest among those aged 16 to 24, at 44%. |
| The 'Box 2000' announcement was criticised for failing to associate itself clearly with any particular group and for its somewhat dull format. Older people and people with disabilities often did not identify with the announcement because there were no audio or visual references to their own situations. |
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| The Helpline and booklet |
| The total number of interactive calls to the Helpline in 1997/98 was over a third less than in 1996/97 which, in turn, was greatly less than in 1995/96. These falls appear to reflect differences in the severity of weather over the last three years. |
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| The vast majority of callers to the Helpline were calling on their own behalf. Nearly half (45%) were aged 60 or over, with the largest single group (36%) made up of those aged 60 to 74. The survey of Helpline users also suggests that callers are predominantly from less affluent social groups. |
| Television was the most common source of the Helpline number, cited by a third of all callers (33%) in 1997/98, followed by newspaper advertising (19%). The booklet (12%), word of mouth (10%) and the poster (8%) were also significant factors in publicising the Helpline. |
| Relatively few agencies had contacted the Helpline directly (4%), referred clients to it (12%) or received referrals from it (8%). That said, those agency representatives who had contacted the Helpline directly were almost all very positive about the service offered. |
| Individual users of the Helpline were generally very positive about the service, finding the operators helpful (66% 'very helpful') and the information useful (48% 'very useful'). Most (82%) said that they would use the Helpline again in the future should the need arise. The main complaints from users related to delays associated with visits from Network Installers. |
| Despite the fact that older people form the biggest single group of callers to the Helpline, their awareness of the KWTW booklet (as with other campaign materials) was lower than that of other groups - just 11% of those aged 65 and over were aware of the booklet, compared with 21% of those aged 45 to 54. |
| Helpline callers who had received the booklet were likely to have read most (24%) or all (52%) of it and to have found it 'very' (35%) or 'fairly useful' (38%). |
| Members of the focus groups who were shown the booklet were less positive and felt that steps could be taken to improve its appearance and relevance to key groups. The main problem here appears to be that of meeting the needs of different target groups within a single format. |
| Agencies who had used the booklet were generally positive about it, though only 62% had seen this year's version. |
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| Conclusions |
| In terms of the main target groups, the profile of Helpline callers remains dominated by older people. This may simply reflect, however, the numerical significance of this group within the target population, rather than particular success in attracting older people's interest or attention. The fact that awareness of the various elements of the campaign was consistently low amongst older people suggests that more could still be done to reach people in this age group. |
| There almost certainly remains scope for increasing the use made of the campaign by its other main target groups - households with young children and people with a disability. The possibility of 'customising' the campaign materials for these groups should be examined, since the focus groups provided evidence that the campaign is currently seen as too focused on the needs of older people. |
| Those agencies which have had contact with the campaign are generally positive about both the Helpline and the booklet. However, they are relatively few in number. This suggests that there is more work to be done in raising awareness among agencies rather than simply sending out information packs. |
| The name of the campaign is now very well known, though it is not clear how well it is actually understood. At worst, however, it offers a familiarity which could be built on in years to come. It would certainly be unwise to change the name at this juncture. |
| The two main mass media used to publicise the campaign (the television announcement and newspaper advertising) are clearly very powerful tools, even if used sparingly. With more flexible and professional use of these, it would undoubtedly be possible to increase greatly the number of calls to the Helpline. That said, the booklet and posters also remain valuable (and cost effective) means of publicising the Helpline. |
| Although a majority of agency respondents felt that some of the information provided by KWTW was available elsewhere, only 9% thought that all of it was. Moreover, there was little evidence that Helpline users had made significant use of other agencies. The campaign appears to occupy a unique role as an easily accessible 'gateway' to a network of advice and information. |
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| The study was conducted by Simon Anderson and Becki Sawyer of System 3. It was funded by the Social Work Services Group of The Scottish Office. |
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| 'An Evaluation of the 1997/98 Keep Warm This Winter Campaign', the research report summarised in this Research Findings may be purchased (price £5 per copy). |
Cheques should be made payable to The Stationery Office and addressed to:
The Stationery Office Ltd, Mail Order Department, 71 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9AZ. Telephone: 0131 228 4181 Fax: 0131 622 7017 The report can also be ordered online from:www.thestationeryoffice.co.uk |
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| This Research Findings may be photocopied, or further copies may be obtained from: |
The Scottish Office Central Research Unit
Room 53
James Craig Walk
Edinburgh EH1 3BA
Tel No: 0131 244 5397 or Fax No: 0131 244 5393 |