2.2

• Media types used in campaigns

  • Blogs
  • Website
  • Viral messaging
  • Social networking
  • Advertising
  • Radio
  • TV
  • Film
  • Documentary
  • Word of mouth
  • Events
  • Print
• Adverts


  • Posters, billboards, leaflets, displays in buses/ trains etc
  • Can be local or national
  • Can reach an audience who do not already know about the campaign
  • Many people can be reached and become aware
  • Can be relatively cheap
  • Could be ignored /forgotten
  • Can be costly
• 2 million people use the tube of a morning
• 267 million bus journeys from the West Midlands to Birmingham City Centre
• Bus posters


  • Can lots of exposure when people get on the bus but also when the bus drives past anyone
• 56% of what you see is forgotten after an hour, and 66% is forgotten after a day
• Can cost between £450 to £6,700 for four weeks on a bus
• Television advertisement


  A span of television programming produced and paid for by an organisation, which conveys a message or markets a product or service
• TV adverts


  • Can be used to raise awareness in campaigns/inform the public etc
  • People can skip adverts
  • All4 doesn't let people flick off the website when there are adverts playing
  • Youtube has two adverts generally at the start of every video- sometimes you can skip after 5 seconds, other times you can't skip at all
• Language, imagery and music is used in adverts to get people to help with causes
• THINK! A combination of road safety campaigning and increasingly tough laws on drink driving


  Cut road deaths from 1,640 in 1979 to 230 deaths in 2012
• 91% agreed drink driving was unacceptable and 92% said they would feel ashamed if they were caught drink driving. This compares to over half of male drivers and nearly 2/3 of young male drivers who admitted drink driving on a weekly basis in 1979
• The adverts are really shocking and get lots of media attention – provoking discussion amongst the public
• By 2016 they had reached 24.9 million people with clean water. Reached 24 million people with decent toilets. Reached 16.7 million people with good hygiene. Donations amounted to £4.9 million for their Deliver Life appeal
• Web banners are clickable ads embedded into websites, this was used by Stop Hate UK for national hate crime awareness week asking websites to show the banner on their sites to bring awareness
• Films and Documentaries


  • Shown on a number of different media formats
  • Information and case studies, deeper insight
  • Docu-dramas mix fact and reconstruction
  • Visual images, real life stories, emotive & persuasive music, atmosphere etc making it more likely people will donate to a cause
  • Can present facts and evidence
  • Distressing images turn people off
  • Costly
  • No guarantee anyone will watch
• Websites


  • Nearly every campaign will have a website
  • Easily accessible from multiple devices
  • Opportunity to present information in any format
  • Cookies can be used for the website to appear
  • Requires people to have prior knowledge of the website, or another form of media to advertise it. Could be a banner on another website
  • Needs to look good, costly process to hire a web designer
• No Knives, Better Lives website

  • Separate pages for parents, young people and practitioners
• Blogs


  • Acts as a form of diary, giving regular in-depth updates on the progress of current campaigns
  • Contains links to articles about issues relevant to the work of the campaign
  • Includes links to other sources of information
  • Useful for anyone wanting to carry out research
  • In-depth nature makes it less accessible to people who just want information
• Unlock (the organisation that campaigns to help people who have a criminal conviction)


  • Uses a blog to promote its work
• Social Networking


  Social media's purpose is to allow people to communicate with one another
• Approx 2.3 billion people use social media
• Social Networking


  • Videos and info for campaigns can be spread quickly and be a cost effective way to reach a lot of people
  • Hackers can alter information
  • Internet trolls may send upsetting messages and deter people from taking part
• Viral Messaging


  Involves passing messages from person to person via social media. As with a cold virus, one person may spread the message to many others, who in turn spread it further and so on
• To 'go viral', a message must contain something that recipients identify with and feel inclined to pass on to members of their network
• Print


  • Press releases/Newspapers/Magazines
  • These are written communications sent to editors and journalists to announce something newsworthy in the hope that the newspaper will give it coverage
• For example, a campaign might want to promote a forthcoming event, publicise a recent success it has had or highlight a campaign issue using a human interest story. Well written press releases are very attractive to the press because they provide ready-made news articles
• Newspapers can widen the exposure of a campaign because many people regularly buy a paper. For example, the News of the World, which backed the campaign to introduce Sarah's Law, had a circulation of over 4 million readers at the time
• Flyers-/ leaflets


  • These are another way in which print can be used to spread a campaign's message. These can be distributed by campaigners relatively quickly and easily. Flyers can be designed to be eye-catching to increase support for a campaign
• Paid advertisements


  • Easily accessible
  • Widespread
  • Easily free for press
  • Advantageous for the newspaper
  • Might be ignored
  • Expensive
  • News tends to be online
  • Younger generation don't use
• Radio


  • Willing to interview campaign representatives on air about the campaign
  • Invite them to contribute to phone-in debates or discussions
  • Invite them to speak as experts to give their opinions on other media
  • Supporters speak to raise awareness
• Events


  • The yearly children in need fundraising event is very effective
  • An evening of TV entertainment, paired with raising awareness of the issues
  • In 2020, £37 million has been raised for Children in need
  • Can be a local summer fair/sporting event, etc. A celebrity could be invited to open the event
  • Can be a fun way for focussing support
  • Good opportunity to sell merchandise
  • Can be used to raise funds
  • Can be used to raise awareness of those who didn't know about the campaign
  • Can be highly televised
  • A celebrity would increase viewers, and help raise the campaigns profile
  • Costly
  • Time consuming
  • Must be organised well or may not have many guests
  • Weather may be considered - it can be unpredictable
• Word of Mouth


  • Campaign messages can be spread by word of mouth
  • They can 'get the ball rolling' by telling family and friends first
  • They may ask them to tell their coworkers and other friends, etc
  • Campaigners can also seek for group leaders to share something
• Word of Mouth


  • Free
  • Supporters are likely to share
  • Opinion leaders can use their influence to get others on board
  • Slow process
  • Can become distorted over time