Case Study:
Result.
increase in entries.
Result.
national media reach.
Result.
increase in AVE.
Few companies have been founded by a World War II hero. Global hearing specialist Amplifon wanted to use founder Charles Holland’s story to gain positive publicity and inspire brand loyalty in the UK market.
Viva created The Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons in 2016 – a campaign inspired by Major Holland’s bravery – which celebrated unsung heroes of British life at an annual awards ceremony.
Of course, 2020 threw us a curveball and we had to think again about how to host the ceremony.
We devised a virtual show, hosted by Rachel Burden from BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Breakfast, that captured the feel of the live event by bringing alive the mix of heart-warming, heart-breaking and inspirational human feats that are at the heart of the awards.
We’ve since hosted the 2021 and 2022 awards ceremony online – in collaboration with video production company BigTank – with the results improving year on year.
Rachel Burden gets ready to present the 2022 Awards.
2022’s Young Hero and Overall Hero winner, Albie-Junior Thomas
Albie-Junior Thomas was pronounced the winner of both the Young Hero category and received the title of overall winner at the 2022 awards.
He was shortlisted after becoming the youngest person to ever scale Mount Snowdon despite having a prosthetic leg.
Albie was presented with his award by swimmer and former Amplifon champion Ellie Challis, who in the last 12 months has won a silver medal at the Paralympics in Tokyo, and a gold and three silvers in the World Para Games in Paris.
Albie and his dad Daniel appeared live on the Sky News sofa with Kay Burley to talk all about his achievements.
2022’s Awards saw Viva record, for the first time ever, AVE of more than £1.5 million and the ROI generated was more than 26 times the investment.
Key to the success of the 2022 campaign was an agreement we secured with the Daily Express to open the Celebrity Hero category to a reader-led vote. This increased brand awareness and engagement, as well as increasing the AVE figures.
They said:
“The team at Viva reacted so swiftly to the changing landscape caused by the pandemic, ultimately turning our annual awards ceremony into the biggest success to date.
“We saw a definite spike in sales activity in October 2020, which will have been helped by the sheer amount of coverage the nominees received, both in traditional media and online, for the Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons.
“Viva encouraged us to add two new categories for 2020 – Hero Celebrity and Coronavirus Hero – and both were won by two shining examples from the pandemic, Marcus Rashford and Captain Sir Tom Moore.
“We’re grateful for Viva’s support and direction throughout each campaign.”
– Paula Cave, General Manager, Amplifon UK
The CIPR judges said:
“Using Major Holland’s story really captured the feeling of a nation during the pandemic and demonstrates how it could be used to enhance the narrative behind the event to encourage entries, but also raise awareness of the awards and Amplifon as a whole.”
