CASE STUDY
UK Anti-Doping (UKAD)
THE BRIEF
To create and deliver national Clean Sport Week — the first ever campaign in the UK aimed at changing the conversation around anti-doping by promoting the values of ‘Clean Sport’ with pride.
One of the key aims was to engage and unite the sporting community, such as national governing bodies (NGBs) and other key stakeholders, in the fight against doping and in particular to educate sport’s non-professional athletes and the wider public on issues around the use of sports supplements.
We worked alongside UKAD to deliver the inaugural campaign in 2017, and again in 2018, across national, regional and online media channels. In the second year, activity was to be focused on the issue of sports supplement consumption amongst non-professional, recreational sports participants.
Activity
In 2018, we took a strategic approach which brought together a range of stakeholders and focused on daily themes throughout the week to sustain media interest.
The initiative was launched via social media with the release of user-generated video content from leading sports stars, including the Brownlee brothers and Nile Wilson, demonstrating their skills and sporting prowess as clean athletes through UKAD’s ‘100% Me’ brand.
Independent research commissioned by YouGov specifically for Clean Sport Weekhighlighted the number of people taking sports supplements without medical advice, particularly non-professional athletes, and the potential long-term health impacts of doing so. The timed release of these findings delivered a strong story and communicated the clean sport message to a wider audience.
Whilst an increasing number of NGBs are supporting the campaign, British Triathlon were chosen as a key partner due to the relevance of the research findings to their audience and participants, with a dedicated Triathlon Day forming a highlight of the week.
The Results
- Established Clean Sport Week as a key moment in the calendar for sport and media
- 74 NGBs and stakeholders engaged
- +40m web page views — up 207%from 2017
- Strong social media activity, with 22m reached on Twitter alone
- Strong coverage across national and regional media brands, including BBC Breakfast, Sky News, Radio 5 Live, The Telegraph, Independent, and Mail Online
- Wider consumer audience engagement for UKAD and the campaign via a strategic focus on sports supplement consumption by non-professional, recreational athletes
- Campaign shortlisted for a PR Week Award in 2018
