PR Case Study: 3 Monkeys Zeno – Met Office: Who do you trust?
3 Monkeys Zeno outlines how it partnered with Radio One DJ Scott Mills to bring the Met Office’s sun safety message to new audiences and drive downloads of its weather app.
Campaign: Met Office: Who do you trust?
Client: Met Office
PR Team: 3 Monkeys Zeno (Adam Clatworthy, Chris Bull, Christine Jewell)
Timing: July 2017
Budget: Under £50k
Summary
The Met Office has always been the go-to provider of weather forecasts as the UK’s national weather service, but weather forecasting is an area disrupted by new entrants. So, how do we remind the public that no-one knows British weather better?
We devised a summer awareness campaign – Who Do You Trust? – to reach new audiences, spread an important safety message and drive downloads of The Met Office’s new app.
Objectives
Research showed that the two most important elements of a weather forecast to the public are accuracy and usefulness. The summer campaign needed to address these two consumer demands, while also:
- Reaching a new, younger audience
- Driving downloads of the new Met Office mobile app
- Encouraging daily use of the Met Office app or website for the most accurate forecasts
- Positioning the Met Office as the expert weather authority
Strategy
For the “usefulness” strand of this campaign, we commissioned research among our core target audience – parents with children aged 11 and under – to investigate their understanding of the dangers of UV.
Leading with the startling finding that over a third of parents believe that suntans on children are a sign of good health, we packaged and pitched the story to national, regional and lifestyle media in June – when UV levels in the UK rise.
To promote the accuracy of the Met Office’s forecasts, we polled the UK public to reveal how many people believe in different weather myths and uncovered the UK’s favourite alternative forecasting methods. We then debunked these myths, reinforcing the message that the Met Office is the forecaster you can really trust.
Implementation
We positioned the Met Office as the expert weather authority, partnering with the NHS and BritMums to increase awareness. We also co-authored content with vloggers The Youngs, and baby product retailer Gro Company, which are trusted by mothers of young children.
We developed a range of content, including illustrated storybook-style animations, adverts for the Met Office app, display advertising and infographics. All materials included a call to action to encourage parents to check UV levels regularly on the Met Office mobile app and take action to protect their families with a safer approach to UV.
Collaborating with Radio One DJ Scott Mills (who our insight showed resonated with our younger audience of 18–34 year-olds), we created a series of short videos with Met Office meteorologist Clare Nasir, debunking the popular weather myths.
We packaged up the research results and videos and launched to the media, while also sharing the content through social channels. The research findings were used as a hook for a broadcast day featuring British meteorologist Clare Nasir to drive awareness with the radio audience.
Results
The campaign delivered 24,832 app downloads at a cost of £0.31 per download, as well as 30 million hashtag impressions and 235 news articles.
It reached over 750 million people, garnering coverage in The Times, The Telegraph, The Sun, Daily Mail, Cosmopolitan, Country Living and Good Housekeeping. It also generated discussion on BBC Breakfast, ITV’s This Morning and Sky News, marking the first time the Met Office has secured coverage on these key morning TV shows.
Internally, the coverage and success of the campaigns created a positive buzz with Met Office employees right through the summer months, driving pride in the organisation.
