100 million views for strategic PR agency, Polymedia’s, Help for Heroes video campaign made it the charity’s most successful campaign ever.
As well as being viewed millions of times on social media, it made national news and TV headlines as it celebrated the bonds between H4H’s supporters and beneficiaries.
The charity’s Facing it Together campaign launched with a video featuring Iraq war Veteran Simon Brown, whose life changed following a sniper attack, and five-year-old fundraiser Tempy Pattinson.
Within three hours of going live on the Help for Heroes Facebook page, Si and Tempy’s launch video was viewed over 100,000 times, and received over 3,000 emotional responses and 1,600 shares.
The following day, the campaign made national news when it was featured in The Mail, The Sun and Mirror Online as well as ITV News at 10. The video was also picked up by major social media influencers including Unilad and LADBible, increasing the reach to more than 2 million views by the end of the day.
Si and Tempy were interviewed by Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on ITV’s This Morning, resulting in a developing story of an unlikely friendship in national news and further increasing social media views to 20 million within 36 hours.
By the end of the 12-day Facing it Together campaign, Si and Tempy’s video had been viewed more than 100 million times on Facebook.
The video was one of a series of six produced by Help for Heroes, which teamed up with Polymedia PR in the Facing it Together campaign’s conception and delivery, using Polymedia’s expertise as an effective and efficient way to help members of the charity’s community tell their stories.
Further videos, which paired Veterans with Help for Heroes staff, fundraisers and supporters, were rolled out over the following 10 days. By the end of the campaign, Facing it Together had reached an estimated audience of 900million, taking into account the social media, national and regional media coverage with engagement five times higher than average.
Robin Punt, Help for Heroes Communications Director, said: “’For a five (and a half) year old girl to take on a triathlon to help someone she had never met is truly humbling. It’s a simple fact that without the bravery of amazing people like Tempy and Si, Help for Heroes wouldn’t exist.
“We worked very closely with Polymedia on Facing it Together and set out to reinforce the unique bond between our supporters and those affected by their service. We wanted to demonstrate in an uplifting, engaging way how the money raised for Help for Heroes transforms lives, and the continued need for the support our charity offers.”
Help for Heroes offers comprehensive support to those who have suffered life-changing injuries and illnesses while serving our country. This support is provided through grants direct to our Heroes and their families, grants to other charities and through four Help for Heroes Recovery Centres across the UK.
A recent study launched in January 2016 by Help for Heroes and King’s College London found of the 750,000 men and women who served as Regulars between 1991 and 2014, at least 66,000 need long-term support.
For more information about Facing it Together, see the campaign on the help for heroes website.