Heart Foundation – Australia
Australia’s Worst Serial Killer
On February 10, 2019, the Heart Foundation launched the co-ordinated advertising and editorial ‘Serial Killer’ campaign in partnership with News Corp Australia to remind Australians that heart disease is the nation’s leading cause of death. The campaign provided Australians with an easy to use online tool, the Heart Age Calculator, to help them assess their own levels of risk for heart disease and called on the Government to invest in the prevention of heart disease by providing a Medicare benefit for Heart Health Checks.
The campaign launched with “teaser” executions warning Australians about a serial killer on the loose – without naming this killer. On Sunday 10 February, every capital city metropolitan News Corp newspaper across Australia had advertisements warning that Australia’s worst serial killer was on the loose and would be named the following week. The following Sunday contained the “reveal” – divulging that the “criminal” behind Australia’s biggest serial killer was in fact heart disease.
Advertising was supported by editorial featuring everyday Australians sharing how heart disease has touched their lives. This reveal included high-impact Sunday metropolitan advertising wraps in print publications and across digital sites, and a takeover of the True Crime Australia website. It was supported by TV and radio advertisements, digital and social media, and editorial and educational videos about heart disease. A media channel plan was developed to deliver the campaign across Australia and to invest more in areas at higher risk of heart disease using our proprietary Australian Heart Maps data. Digital and social media was used to compliment the media buy in hard to reach regional areas that had little or no print publications. Heart Foundation-owned media channels were leveraged including the website, a campaign landing page, eDMs (electronic direct mails) to 300,000 subscribers and social media platforms. These were complemented by an editorial and social media campaign sharing the hashtag #showsometicker.
