Winner of 2010 IPA Effectiveness Award Gold Award

Luther has been working with the Department of Health since launching a national media and stakeholder relations campaign to raise public awareness of stroke.   Built around a simple acronym – Face, Arms, Speech, Time – the campaign aims to help people recognise the signs of stroke, and stresses the importance of fast emergency response.

The launch took place in February 2009 at the London Ambulance Service Headquarters. The primary objectives were to unveil the ‘Fire in Head’ creative visual concept; to communicate the FAST message and assert the importance of stroke as a medical emergency; to seed awareness of stroke across target media
– national, consumer, trade and regional; and lay the groundwork for ongoing media relations campaigning throughout the life of the campaign.

The launch was attended by the Secretary of State for Health, who was FAST trained by a paramedic and unveiled banners of the creative design for a photo-call which attracted photographers from Getty Images and Press Association. In parallel, we worked closely with broadcast media to develop compelling stories for national television and radio programmes, which included interviews on Radio 4’s Today programme, and breakfast news. 

Since the launch of the campaign, statistics show that public awareness of stroke is higher than ever before, leading to a 55% increase in 999 calls relating to stroke. Research also revealed that eight out ten people in England could recall the campaign.

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