Harvest Digital to launch online marketing strategy for Plan UK

Harvest Digital has been appointed to produce and implement a digital marketing strategy for Plan UK. The online marketing agency will work closely with the charity to raise awareness of the charity’s long-term community based development work and recruit sponsors for children across the world using a range of online media, including search and display advertising. Harvest will integrate media planning and buying, search, portal partnerships, creative development and production, user experience, and eCRM to produce the most effective results for Plan UK.

Plan raises funds for development programmes in 49 of the world's poorest countries and works with children, their families, and communities, to implement practical ways to provide services such as building schools, drilling wells, training nurses and helping families to support themselves. The charity has more than a million sponsors across the world and its partnerships with communities can often last ten to fifteen years. It aims to ensure the poorest communities achieve lasting improvements, including giving its children a better start in life, confidence and knowledge of their rights. Harvest has produced creative in a wide range of formats including, overlays and video MPUs, featuring children indicative of those helped by Plan and a call to action to encourage views to click through and sponsor a child. One execution shows African children playing football with the copy, ‘Sponsor a child and your name won’t be written on his shirt…it’ll be written all over his face.’

The activity commences with a campaign to leverage Plan’s PR activity with GMTV, which is broadcasting a feature from Tanzania called ‘Finding Neema’ presented by Fiona Phillips, who has sponsored a child through Plan since 2004. Harvest has developed specific creative to drive traffic to the Plan/GMTV co-branded microsite. Media activities include search marketing on Google, Yahoo! and MSN, which were upweighted to integrate with the GMTV campaign, display media on the major portals and advertising networks and CPC display.

Katharine Dorset, Head of Digital at Plan UK, explains, ‘It’s a tragic reality that one in five children born in the poorest countries won’t live to see their 5th birthday. We work to implement lasting change and champion children’s rights to help end child poverty and wanted to increase our use of digital media in order to raise awareness of our work and encourage more people to help us make a difference. We selected Harvest Digital because of their charity expertise, skills in online customer acquisition and ability to integrate with other online and offline media. As a full-service agency they understand all aspects of the customer pathway from banner to eCRM so they can optimise the budget most effectively.’

William Corke, Director at Harvest Digital adds, ‘We have used Plan’s brand style to produce gritty creative with edgy type in multiple formats, booked across a wide variety of media to give high visibility and integrate with the charity’s offline initiative’s such as PR. We consulted several of Plan’s UK teams and recommended a digital strategy which builds on Plan’s previous direct marketing activity to reach a wider audience and encourages them to click through to learn more about Plan’s work and sign up immediately.’
About Plan UK
Founded 70 years ago, Plan is an international child-centered community development organisation with no religious or political affiliations. With more child sponsors than any other UK charity, Plan works with children, their families and communities in 49 of the world’s poorest countries to help them reach their full potential – and improve the lives of future generations.
Last, year in recognition of Plan UK’s transparency and accountability Plan UK was awarded first prize in the 2006 CAF Charities Online Accounts Award in the category of Top 100 UK Fundraising Charities.

Plan sponsorship is a real solution, funding community-based projects that address children’s basic needs, from clean water and health to education. Children and communities are involved in these projects, ensuring solutions that are practical, relevant and long lasting and sponsors see the difference they are helping to make through annual photos, project updates and country progress reports. Many sponsors exchange letters and drawings with their sponsored child building a strong personal link over the years.


About Harvest Digital
Harvest Digital is a full-service online marketing agency specialising in media planning and buying, search marketing, and online marketing creative.

Formed in 2001, the company is privately owned by staff. Based in Soho in London, clients include Tesco Personal Finance, Norwich Union, Auto Trader, Thomas Cook, 3M, Tiscali, Shelter, uSwitch.com and CMC Markets.

www.harvestdigital.com


For further information please contact:

Joanna Burton
Head of PR
Harvest Digital
e: joanna@harvestdigital.com
t: 020 7479 7500