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Northern Gas Networks (NGN) | Corporate Social Responsibility

Catching the hidden killer

An innovative, emotionally-engaging campaign alerting students to the dangers of CO poisoning

The Challenge

NGN needed a hard-hitting campaign to raise carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning awareness among the high-risk student population.

They wanted to capture the imagination of young people, creating an emotional connection to drive behaviour change.

The Solution

Poster for iCop NGN Games featuring a sinister shadowy figure

Body lying on floor and shadowy figure leaving the scene

Room with man lying on the floor, circle round bloodied carving knife and words, Is this the cause of death?

Working with NGN, we conducted a series of student focus groups, finding that a gamification element had the widest reach.

Our digital solution was an immersive, murder-mystery cop game that forces the player to confront the reality of CO poisoning. The iCOP concept is a provocative and intriguing gameplay with a serious message.

The app launch included a Facebook competition campaign and hard-hitting viral flash mobs across university campuses, which had hundreds of students sharing, liking and commenting.

Two girls playing the iCop game on a tablet

Five actors dressed in Macs, trilbies and balaclavas, with chalk figure drawn on the floor

Three girls at an iCop stall in a marquee concentrating as the game is explained

The Result

Within a few days of its launch, iCOP was downloaded by more than 1,200 people, and now stands at 100,000+ downloads in total. The campaign has also won several Awards of Excellence for Communication. In addition, NGN were delighted with the number of requests they received for CO alarms from iCOP users.

iCOP’s the first product of its kind to be adopted and rolled out by all major gas distribution networks, supported by CO charities and National Grid.

The next chapter, iFEST – raising CO awareness at UK festivals – was funded by all the gas distribution networks (NGN, National Grid, SGN and Wales&West Utilities).

+ downloads

What students said…

The style is quirky, fun and full of surprises – it’s more memorable than most safety messages.

Newcastle University Student

Unilever

> Challenge:
To get young people thinking about careers within Unilever’s Manufacturing and Engineering teams.

> Solution:
A multi-channel campaign inviting young people to walk in apprentices’ shoes.

> Result:
A foundation on which to build an inspiring identity for the entire UK apprenticeship programme.

Anchor Hanover

> Challenge:
To develop an engaging, fresh-look magazine for colleagues of the major new care provider Anchor Hanover

> Solution:
arch – a new, three times a year magazine with a celebratory tone of voice, look and feel

> Results:
Thanks in part to arch, 91% of Anchor Hanover colleagues said they understand how they contribute to the new company’s success.

Direct Line Group

> Challenge: To create an immersive environment at DLG’s new Bristol office

> Solution: An engaging, design-led workspace

> Result: More colleague collaboration and involvement in DLG communications

Southeastern Safety Campaign

> Challenge: Revitalise the safety culture among Southeastern colleagues.

> Solution: A fun and engaging campaign, encouraging colleagues to become safety champions.

> Result: Greater awareness and personal responsibility for safety at work.

easyJet

> Challenge: Helping to improve awareness and understanding of easyJet’s customer experience for their 8,000 employees

> Solution: An interactive, multi-channel campaign to cascade the strategy – and get easyJet people talking about it

> Result: 89% of easyJet people understand how their role contributes to the company’s success

Intu

> Challenge: To refresh and reinvigorate employees’ understanding of intu’s ‘joy’ principles.

> Solution: A campaign of workshops and team activities that help colleagues bring ‘joy’ to life.

> Result: High manager engagement plus regular all-staff activities designed to encourage joy in people’s daily work.

Southeastern

> Challenge: A game-changing approach to connecting with 4,278 employees across the railway network from Kent to central London

> Solution: The Southeastern Standard colleague newspaper

> Result: 100% positive feedback on the newspaper’s launch issue

Northumbrian Water Group

> Challenge: Getting colleagues to make safety a part of everything they do

> Solution: A 15-minute virtual reality experience to bring potential hazards to life

> Result: Colleagues are more aware of potential safety risks – and they’re carrying out safety checks unprompted

Avis Budget Group

> Challenge: To connect 30,000 employees to the global strategy

> Solution: ‘Our route to a smarter world’

> Result: Teams worldwide understand their role in delivering the strategy

Britvic

> Challenge: To promote Britvic’s new intranet as a tool to help colleagues to do their jobs easily

> Solution: A straight-talking, guerrilla-style campaign

> Result: 63% of Britvic colleagues viewed the communications in the first three days

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