Turning behavioural insight into public health action.
Partner
Campaign
Million Hearts Birmingham
Public Health
From awareness to action - closing the diagnosis gap.
We partnered with Birmingham City Council to address a critical public health challenge: the underdiagnosis of high blood pressure across the city. With cardiovascular disease remaining the leading cause of death in England, and 3 in 10 adults with high blood pressure undiagnosed, the need for effective, behaviour-led intervention was clear.
The challenge was particularly acute within Black African and Black Caribbean communities, where lower testing rates contribute to higher instances of unexpected cardiovascular events.
So, we needed to move from raising awareness to people actually getting tested.
- The challenge
From awareness to actionable behaviour change.
Birmingham City Council needed more than a traditional awareness campaign.
The objectives were clear:
- Increase understanding of high blood pressure and its risks
- Drive uptake of newly available local testing services
But the behavioural barriers were complex – rooted in trust, awareness, accessibility, and cultural relevance.
Standard public health messaging often assumes:
“If people know, they will act.”
Behavioural science tells us otherwise.
The Council needed to understand:
- What prevents individuals from getting tested
- How to make testing feel relevant, accessible and normalised
- Which channels and messages would resonate most effectively
- How to ensure communications translated into real-world action
This was not just a communications challenge.
It was a behaviour change challenge.
- The strategy
Behaviour-led, community-relevant communication.
Our approach was grounded in behavioural science and informed by the BLACHIR Report (2021), which highlights the importance of culturally appropriate, evidence-based interventions within Black African and Black Caribbean communities.
Rather than a single campaign idea, we developed a multichannel behavioural strategy designed to:
- Reduce psychological and practical barriers to testing
- Increase salience and perceived personal relevance
- Meet audiences where they already are – both physically and digitally
Creative development was iterative and evidence-led, ensuring all messaging aligned with known drivers of behaviour change.
- The output
A multichannel behaviour change campaign.
We designed and delivered an integrated campaign ecosystem to maximise reach, relevance and action:
- Social media advertising (organic and paid)
- Online advertising
- Digital radio
- Outdoor advertising
- Press releases
- Local community radio
- Stakeholder toolkit for consistent message delivery
Each channel played a distinct behavioural role – from awareness building to prompting immediate action.
The campaign was continuously optimised using performance data, allowing for real-time adaptation to audience response and engagement patterns.
This ensured the strategy remained responsive, not static.
- The impact
Behavioural reach, measurable response.
The campaign delivered strong, measurable outcomes:
- 300% increase in website traffic against target
- Over 6 million campaign impressions
- Online advertising performance exceeded targets by 600%
Beyond performance metrics, the campaign achieved something more important:
It increased engagement with blood pressure testing among target audiences.
The work also generated valuable behavioural insight, equipping Birmingham City Council with evidence to inform future public health initiatives.
What we did.
- Behavioural insight application (BLACHIR-informed approach)
- Multichannel campaign strategy and delivery
- Audience-focused creative development
- Data-led optimisation and performance tracking
- Stakeholder toolkit development
- Public health communication strategy
Why it worked.
Because we focused on behaviour, not just raising awareness.
Traditional campaigns inform.
Behavioural campaigns influence action.
By combining:
- Evidence from the BLACHIR report
- Behavioural science principles
- Multichannel delivery
- Continuous optimisation
The campaign moved beyond messaging to meaningful impact.