Not Just Small Talk
Increasing salience of the health impacts of climate change
With Wellcome Trust, we ran a UK based campaign on the health impacts of extreme heat, targeting the politically key British group, Loyal Nationals.
Challenge
Understanding that public awareness of climate change’s health impacts was low in the UK, Wellcome asked us to run a pilot campaign to test how to make extreme heat feel personally relevant. Our challenge was to engage a politically important but climate-ambivalent group, Loyal Nationals. We partnered with Wellcome to design, deliver, and evaluate a culturally resonant campaign that built understanding, urgency, and media salience around heat and health.
Strategy
The strategy was rooted in the insight that Loyal Nationals don’t see extreme heat as a threat, until it’s framed around the health of loved ones. This led to our “get to by”: get Loyal Nationals to see extreme heat as urgent by showing its health risks to those they care about. We co-created with Round Our Way and worked with partners including Age UK, Save the Children, British Red Cross, and others to shape culturally relevant, empathy-driven messaging.
Creative
The creative concept, Not Just Small Talk, subverted Britain’s obsession with weather and holidays to spark new conversations about heat and health. We used nostalgic holiday imagery, human-led storytelling, and trusted messengers like Dr. Hilary & Angela Rippon to make the issue relatable. Standout activations included reactive media, social-first videos featuring lived experience, and a microsite hosting partner content, all designed to shift perceptions and raise awareness.
Campaign
We delivered the campaign across earned media, social, and partner channels, reaching 2.3M+ people. A key moment was pivoting the narrative from UK heat to holidays abroad when the summer turned wet. Tactics included reactive media tied to news cycles, human-led videos optimized for Meta, and a white-label design for partner amplification. The campaign stood out for embedding climate messages in culturally resonant, emotionally engaging content.
Impact
The Impact?
2.29M Total Estimated Video Views
Our content online had over 1 million impressions
70 Placements Reaching Loyal Nationals
The campaign raised awareness among a key, often-overlooked audience, Loyal Nationals, with 45% of viewers learning something new about heat and health. Dr. Hilary’s video drove a 6-point shift in perceived severity of heatwaves. Partners reported greater confidence communicating climate-health links. The campaign reframed extreme heat as a personal, urgent issue, laying the groundwork for broader public engagement and future policy influence.