Existing Community Campaigns and Analysis

 Local

Below are some examples of exsisting campaigns in the Hertforshire area; Wild Stevenage, Team London and Baldock Needs A Skate Park. All of these campaigns were created with the purpose of improving their local area for the benefit of the community.

Wild Stevenage

The Wild Stevenage Project is run by the Herts and Essex Wildlife Trust. The trust campaign on local and national issues in attempt to protect British wildlife. They started the Wild Stevenage Project in April 2011 with the intentions of getting more local people to volunteer and help look after the wildlife in their area- in this case Shackledell Grassland near Fairlands Valley Park. It ended in February 2013.

The Herts and Essex Wildlife Trust created leaflets to promote their idea, which they gave out to people in the local area, particularly young children and their parents. These outlined why the campaign was so important and how they would benefit from the project. To encourage them further, people from Stevenage Council and the Green Space Volunteers came into local primary schools to talk about the project.The trust also set up stalls at local events to advertise their cause. The campaign also used the Herts and Essex Wildlife website as well as other blogs to talk about what was going on and the progress they were making. The campaign eventually made local newspapers, raising further awareness of the project. (x)



The webpage for the campaign provides the main source of promotion and information. There is a lot of information about the aims of the group, the work that they have done and what they achieved. The language used fairly simple, so a child could understand what is being said, however there may be the odd phrase they do not understand as there is a lot of environmental jargon- people who are not enthusiastic on gardening would not understand. The target audience for this campaign is people who are keen, so the website is appropriate for them. 

The colour scheme of the webpage is green, and silhouettes of leaves are used for the background, so without reading the page it is fairly obvious to the audience (through association) that the page is related to nature and the environment. There is one main image, showing children smiling as they help tidy up an area. This is relevant to the work that the group do, and the fact the children are smiling immediately makes the audience presume that the work they are doing is successful, enjoyable and for a good cause. 

There are lots of links to other websites, which is the advantage of having a website- although a print campaign could include a web address, there could not be a direct link. The same applies for other forms of media, e.g. videos. There is also a 'Please Donate' section. This addresses the audience directly, and combined with the text talking about how good the work they do is, makes them feel obliged to donate and feel guilty if they do not. There is a preview of the Wild Stevenage twitter feed- this will attract a wider target audience, in particular older teenagers and young adults. Social networking is a huge advantage because it allows the audience to interact with the people behind the campaign- they can find out what is going on and also share their opinion. Similarly, people can also sign up for a news letter, which is similar however the e-mail addresses just one person as opposed to many. This makes people feel as though they are directly getting involved and they are making a difference; it creates a sense of belonging. 

Friends of Norton Common

The Friends of Norton Common are a Letchworth based group founded by locals in 2006, who campaign to people who live in the surrounding area to volunteer and help keep the common looking good for the public and safe for the wildlife that lives there. The Common, a huge park in the centre of the town, is used by many residents for playing in, long walks, biking and taking dogs. There is a park in the middle as well as a football pitch, tennis courts and the outdoor pool on the borders. The work that the group does includes looking after the trees and rubbish, clearing the brook and creating pathways, planting new greenery and getting rid of litter. The campaign is aimed at adults, in particular older men and women who do not work unlike Wild Stevenage, which was aimed at younger children and parents. 

The campaign uses leaflets encouraging people to visit the common, with details about the Friends and their work on the back. There is a lot of information about the kinds of wildlife you can find in the reserve, and facts to go with them. These facts will interest the audience, and make them want to go and see the animals, flora and fauna. Facts also make the Friends seem knowledgeable, professional and reliable, all of which are qualities that will make them seem more appealing to the audience. Some other linguistic techniques include rhetorical questions- 'What can you see?' (this question gets the audience thinking, and if they haven't visited the common they they may want to in order to answer the question) and pronouns/ direct address 'Here you can see...'. This makes the encourages the audience to identify with the cause and makes them feel included in it, which is effective in getting people involved- it has been proved that people like feeling included in a group or community. There is also a lot of positive imagery that has been used to describe the area 'Here you can explore woodlands alive with birds, roam through grasslands full of wild flowers, find mineral rich springs feeding the Pix Brook and see traces of ancient farming'. This is a slight exaggeration of the beauty of the common, but it will make people want to visit it to see how good it is, the intention of the group. The constant reminders and implications of how great Norton Common is reinforces the point that people should visit it. 

The main colour used throughout the leaflet is green. This is probably because green is a colour that is generally associated with nature and natural beauty. This is a silent reminder that Norton Common is an area that has not been ruined or built upon; it is all about the wildlife. The fact that it is the exact same shade of green on every single page of the leaflet creates visual continuity between pages and makes it look neat and professional. There are a lot of images used here, of the wildlife in the common; the images are all relevant to the text and demonstrate the kinds of animals and plants people can find there. The colours of the images are all very vibrant and stand out from one another. These make the leaflet look even more attractive and break up the long pieces of text. There is also the North Herts District Council logo on the cover. It is an image that will definitely be familiar to any locals, and this recognition may motivate them to pick up the leaflet.

The group also use the internet to promote their cause, for example they have a YouTube channel showing pictures of the common and examples of the work they have done, a website (x) and a blog (x). These all offer the group to share forms of media that they couldn't do through the leaflet, such as videos and sound files. In 2008, the Friends also produced a calender to sell to locals, which not only helped raise awareness of the work they were doing but earn money too. 

Baldock Needs A Skate Park

Baldock needs a skate park is a campaign that began in 2011. It is run by and aimed at younger teenagers in the area. Skateboarding is becoming increasingly popular activity, especially among teenage boys, and there is nowhere in Baldock for teenagers to relax, make friends or socialise. The aim of the campaign is to get the attention of the Baldock Council and convince them to build a skate park. So far the campaign has been partially successful; in 2012, the council put the skate park on their agenda and considered 3 possible locations after a meeting with the leader group although there have been no further discussions. 

The group campaign through social networking; they have a page on Facebook (x) and on Twitter (x). This is the best way of promoting their cause considering the target audience; they are not likely to pay much attention to a leaflet or newspaper, how Wild Stevenage and the Friends of Norton Common spread their ideas. Facebook and Twitter are sites that majority of teenagers have accounts on and tend to check regularly. This means that the person behind the campaign can use multimedia they could not through print, e.g. videos or audio links. It also offers the group the chance to directly interact with the audience, by commenting on Facebook statuses or relying to tweets. This means that it is easier to see what the audience want and get them all involved. Here is an example of people getting involved on twitter; the Baldock News group are helping to promote the campaign. 

Headway Hertfordshire

Headway is a charity that raises awareness of and supports people who have or are affected by brain injuries. The Hertfordshire branch are currently running an advertising campaign to promote the work the charity does. The main way that the charity does this is through leaflets and posters that are handed out around the county; this leaflet was from Baldock Community Centre, which is used by a lot of people, in articular adults. The charity will naturally want as many people to get involved as possible, so promoting it in a popular area within a community means that more people will see it.

The target audience is most likely adults; the topic is very serious and may even upset younger children. The language that is used is fairly sophisticated and includes some medical jargon that children and younger teenagers wouldn't understand. There are also lots of persuasive techniques used throughout the text in the leaflet. An example of this is the bottom left third; facts and statistics make the reader feel as though the information is more accurate and reliable. It also acts as evidence which appears to prove the point/ promote the cause of the leaflet. There are also a lot of pronouns and direct address being used; 'You can support Headway Hertfordshire by...'/ 'We have a wide variety of opportunities...'/ 'Our services include...'. These encourage the reader to identify with the cause, and makes them feel as if the leaflet is speaking to them, as opposed to the general audience. 

The colours used are very basic; the front cover uses blue and white, the colours used throughout the rest of the leaflet (the house scheme- keeping it the same provides visual continuity). Unlike the rest of the leaflet, burgundy and yellow are also used. Yellow is a bright and happy colour, and as well as standing out from the other colours and attracting people to the leaflet, the positive connotations instantly make people think the charity is good. Burgundy was probably used to attract the target audience- using something like red, a primary colour, is typically associated with children, or childish values. This would attract the wrong kind of people. 

There are not many images used but they all demonstrate the good work that the charity does and illustrate some of the points that the leaflet makes. For example; the bottom right images highlights that the charity runs 'community based groups and activities, run by our OSWs'. All of the images all give off positive images of the charity- they show the work is successful and people are smiling, implying it is helping them. This makes people think that the charity is worth supporting because of what it is doing for people- the advert almost makes the audience feel guilty for not donating or getting involved. 

There is a whole page dedicated to getting into contact with the charity; it clearly shows their address, email, website and links to social networking. Headway Hertfordshire runs a Facebook (x) and Twitter (x) page that it regularly updates. This is to let people know about the work that they are doing and promote the charity further. It will be mainly used by younger adults, who statistically check social networking sites the most often and offers the audience the chance to interact with the charity and get involved. 

Some examples of similar campaigns that aim to affect communities on a national scale are; The Big Tidy Up, The Conservative Volunteers and Talk to FRANK.