Help Us Help You SMS Campaign by RM Partners NW & SW London Cancer Alliance (May 2025)
The aim of the RM Partners text campaign pilot was to amplify key messages from the NHS ‘Reducing Cancer Barriers’ Campaign which ran in England from January – March 2025 across TV and media channels. Our campaign aims were to encourage people who were experiencing potential signs of cancer to contact their GP practice to help increase earlier diagnosis and to improve outcomes/reduce variation in patient interval (time taken to present symptoms to the GP practice) across Brent (NW London) and Croydon (SW London).
Objectives:
1. Build on existing communication methods via GP practice i.e. Accurx
2. Pilot a direct-to-patient mass marketing approach
Targeted Lung Cancer Screening Project by South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Cancer Alliance
Targeted SMS project for those aged 70-75 who did not engage with the Lung Cancer Screening Programme at previous invite. Behaviour Science informed SMS sent by GP as "Messenger" prior to letter invite received from Lung Cancer Screening provider.
Small Act, Big Impact
The ‘Small Act, Big Impact’ campaign focused on men aged under 45 who have sex with men as they are at higher risk from the human papilloma virus (HPV) and certain types of cancer.
It aimed to increase awareness within the LGBTQ+ community of the HPV vaccination and services available. The campaign directly increased HPV vaccination rates amongst MSM under 45 group with rates increased by 62%.
The vaccinations were delivered to the MSM and trans communities by partners MESMAC and Locala, some of them being delivered during Pride events in West Yorkshire.
The campaign, which ran across TikTok, LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) as well as out of home advertising (billboards) was viewed 1.75 million times. Almost 14,000 people clicked through to the website of the Cancer Alliance’s partner charity OUTpatients, educating many people across West Yorkshire.
Key results include:
- Over 500,000 people viewed the advert from Meta platforms
- 1.1m views from the Grindr dating app.
HPV is a common virus that is spread through skin contact – usually through any form of sexual touching. Most types of HPV are harmless, but some types are linked to an increased risk of certain types of cancer, including cervical cancer; mouth cancer; anal cancer; penile cancer; vulval cancer and vaginal cancer. HPV can also cause genital warts.
Benefits of the vaccine include:
- Prevention of HPV-related cancers
- Reduction in genital warts
- Herd immunity (reducing overall circulation rates of HPV in the community)
- Prevention of transmission
- Protection against recurrent respiratory papillomatosis
In turn, this also supports:
- Raising awareness of signs and symptoms of HPV related cancers, encouraging people to seek advice from their GP
- Supporting the NHS England ambition to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040
- Supporting the NHS England Long Term Plan goal to diagnose 75% of cancers at an early stage by 2028