Breath is Life is a ‘powerful but positive’ campaign intended to connect people with the charity’s new mission to transform the nation’s lung health
Today the country’s leading lung charity Asthma + Lung UK unveils Breath is Life, an integrated advertising campaign that will feature on You Tube, radio, across social media and on digital posters. It aims to highlight the importance of breath and how integral it is to every part of life.
Asthma + Lung UK rebranded from Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation at the end of February with an eye-catching pink and orange logo and a new strategy to change Britain’s poor record on lung health by challenging misconceptions about lung conditions, driving greater investment into respiratory research, and campaigning for cleaner air and better access to care.
The charity has taken a two-pronged marketing approach to improve the lives of the 12 million people who will get a lung condition in their lifetime and cement its new brand. Firstly, it is shining a spotlight on the ‘shameful’ state of UK lung health through earned and owned media to drive respiratory research funding, influence improved care, tackle air pollution, and encourage people to access its services.
Secondly, it is using the Breath Is Life advertising campaign to show why breathing is fundamental to all and therefore worth fighting for. The charity’s vision is for a world where everyone can breathe with healthy lungs. The marketing communications strategy, including planning and buying, was led by Wake the Bear and the creative campaign was developed by Miroma Group agency”
The advertising comprises an evocative 30-second film showing a montage of monochrome clips of people using breath as part of their everyday lives, including - an athlete about to start a race, a girl blowing bubbles, a couple kissing, an old man dancing, and a baby taking its first breath, which will feature on YouTube and other social media channels. The video and digital posters reflect Asthma + Lung UK’s contemporary and colourful new look, which was developed by Pentagram.
There will be similar images on digital outdoor billboards in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast and a radio advert of a 15 second poem about breath will be broadcast, ending with the payoff line: Breath is life, and it’s worth fighting for.
Sarah Woolnough, CEO of Asthma + Lung UK said:
“Breath is Life is a powerful and positive campaign that will help people to connect with our new brand and to start to take lung health more seriously. Everyone needs breath to live their lives, and these adverts are an inspiring but visceral way of making that point.
“Our campaign highlights the link between breathing and all aspects of being alive, and the right to breathe freely applies to everyone, regardless of income, age, ethnicity, gender, or background. We want to reach even more people with these adverts, including those that don’t have a lung condition but might be concerned about the impact that air pollution, for instance, can have on their health.
“With our eye-catching new look, important strategy and unforgettable Breath is Life campaign, we are determined to fight for a world where everyone has healthy lungs, by campaigning for more research into lung conditions, cleaner air and better access to diagnosis and treatment.”
Marh Nohr, executive director of agencies at Miroma Group, said:
‘This campaign is all about an urgent call to take lung health seriously. It does this by reframing lung health in terms of breath – because without it, there can be no life.
“The approach was to highlight the centrality of breath in every aspect of living – from sport to music, sex to birth. It’s an uplifting celebration of breath’s life-giving qualities. But, by extension, it’s a powerful argument that our right to breathe must be protected at all costs. It ultimately supercharges the importance of respiratory health in the public consciousness.”
Asthma + Lung UK has created a new ‘Breath is Life’ landing page to allow people to find out more about the charity and its work at www.asthmaandlung.co.uk
Notes to Editors
For more information or for interview requests, please contact Lucy Benyon, Media Officer, on 07952 930503 or lbenyon@auk-blf.org.uk. Digital assets for this campaign, as well as the You Tube link will be sent out on 6th June.
Asthma + Lung UK
Asthma + Lung UK is the only charity in the UK fighting for everyone with a lung condition, aiming for a world where everyone can breathe with healthy lungs. We fund research. We provide advice and support for the 12 million people who will get a lung condition during their lifetime. We campaign for clean air, and we campaign for better NHS diagnosis and treatment. For further information visit asthmaandlung.org.uk.