November 15, 2016

Cancer Research UK Gets Digital: Placing Yourself In The User Journey

Cancer charity Cancer Research UK has uncovered a seamless way of placing itself in its customer’s daily lives, by installing contactless donation points in the windows of their stores.

In February 2015, Cancer Research joined forces with outdoor media owners Clear Channel and MediaCom to bring charitable giving to four of its shop windows by integrating digital into real-world footfall, giving passers by the opportunity to donate £2 to its life-saving research.

By simply tapping their contactless card on the window at one of the four selected shops in High Street Kensington, Marylebone, Brighton and Guilford. Chosen because of their high footfall, the hope was to increase donations on a 24 hour basis. The shops were only open 9am-5pm, but the contactless points allowed people to donate 24/7.

Using a contactless credit or debit card on the window, consumers were able to make an instant £2 donation to Cancer Research UK, activating a video in the window to show what a difference their support would make.

Within a two-week period, the points received huge interest, with nearly 70,000 people engaging in the campaign – showing a real appetite to donate in convenient ways.

Cancer Research UK, like many brands, is constantly looking for new and innovative ways to promote themselves and generate a ROI, whether that be in sales or donations.

After the initial pilot, the charity has continued to build on the campaign. For 2016’s World Cancer Day, it launched contactless locations across the UK, giving supporters the opportunity to donate via contactless payments through street fundraising volunteers, static till-point donation points and shop windows across city centres.

“The results of our contactless activity have been very promising,” says Paul Weaver, digital innovation manager at Cancer Research UK. “However, it’s still early days in terms of contactless giving as a normal behaviour within the sector, so we’re working with the UK Cards Association and a number of charities to raise awareness and increase the scale of contactless giving. We’re also openly sharing our learnings across the sector.”