Macmillan

Macmillan Cancer Support stands on the front lines of the fight against cancer in the United Kingdom. Committed to inspiring, supporting, and guiding anyone affected by cancer, Macmillan invests in everything from innovative fundraising strategies, to campaigns designed to shape the future of cancer treatment. They believe no-one should be forced to tackle this complex enemy alone.

The Macmillan community consists of millions of supports, volunteers, campaigners, and professionals, all working to help patients and their families lead fuller lives. The Charity’s work has already had a phenomenal impact on thousands of people located all over the United Kingdom.

One of Macmillan’s biggest challenges revolves around the development of creative and inspirational campaigns, intended to drive support from millions of participants. The Charity approached Fabrik for our help designing an experiential and interactive marketing campaign that would boost brand awareness and word of mouth marketing.

Our initial “Shave or Style” campaign highlighted a clear desire for supporters to get involved in a bold new movement, that would connect with a highly digital and social audience. We built on our discoveries to develop the “Brave the Shave” initiative; a campaign that continues deliver funding opportunities to Macmillan to this day.

Following a detailed analysis of our first campaign for Macmillan, we discovered a clear need for a mobile-friendly experience among supporters. We launched the “Brave the Shave” campaign with a mobile-first focus, working to keep the user journey as simple as possible. Our design strategy led to new features for Macmillan’s mobile application.

We gave supporters the chance to upload before and after photos from when they “Braved the Shave”. Plus, we introduced new social media fundraising tools to help shavers promote their event. Our team also introduced a new ecommerce strategy to help inspire and inform shavers throughout their journey, and enhanced this with creative content and a complete communications plan.

Our work with Macmillan has led to the development of a series of successful marketing campaigns, designed to inspire community engagement and enhance the Charity’s visibility. Within a year, the first Brave the Shave campaign earned the attention of 20,000 shavers, who read an incredible £4.5 million in essential funding for cancer research.

Surveys also found the donors and shavers found Macmillan’s updated website and fundraising tools convenient and intuitive, which helped to drive greater adoption. Today, Brave the Shave continues to be a valuable part of Macmillan’s comprehensive and creative community engagement strategy.

What we did: