Firebird PR > Portfolio > Wildlife & Nature Conservation > Hedgehog Campaign

Case Study: Hedgehog Campaign

Safeguarding the future of Britain's declining hedgehog populations

Area of expertise: Wildlife and nature conservation
Client: People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES)
Project: Hedgehog Street

The brief

PTES, in partnership with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS), launched a campaign in summer 2011 to safeguard the future of Britain's hedgehog as it is widely believed that the species has undergone a dramatic population decline.

The campaign, which is still ongoing, consists of several elements, including:

The State of Britain's Hedgehogs - a scoping study commissioned from the British Trust for Ornithology, which confirmed evidence from eight existing UK wildlife surveys that hedgehog populations are declining;
Hedgehog Street - a nationwide, public initiative to encourage hedgehog conservation action at a local community or neighbourhood level;
Hibernation Survey - PTES and BHPS will launch a new survey in February 2012 to determine whether climate change is having an effect on when hedgehogs emerge from hibernation and how this might be affecting their survival;
Research grants - PTES and BHPS have awarded grants to four research projects to explore hedgehog surveying techniques and to examine the link between hedgehog decline and environmental factors.

Firebird PR managed media relations around the publication of The State of Britain's Hedgehogs report and the launch of Hedgehog Street.

Objectives

To publicise a world-first in veterinary surgery: a cat who was successfully given two new prosthetic paws in a single operation
To promote The Bionic Vet, a six-part documentary on BBC 1 featuring Dr Fitzpatrick, his team and patients at the practice
To raise awareness of the referral practice and its cutting-edge facilities
To manage the public profile and reputation of Dr Noel Fitzpatrick

Firebird PR managed media relations around the publication of The State of Britain's Hedgehogs report and the launch of Hedgehog Street.

PR objectives

To convey key messages around the decline of hedgehogs in the UK; that they need our help; and that members of the public can make a difference in their very own gardens and streets
To mobilise individuals, streets, estates and neighbourhoods to take part in hedgehog conservation
To support the recruitment of 5,000 volunteer 'Hedgehog Champions' whose role is to work with their neighbours to make their gardens and streets more hedgehog-friendly
To drive traffic to the dedicated Hedgehog Street website

Strategy and plan

We developed a media relations action plan targeted initially at long lead consumer press (especially gardening, women's and conservation), followed by wider targeting of national environment correspondents, newswires and broadcast outlets. In particular, Firebird secured the support of Springwatch 2011 who helped launch the initiative in their first week of programming; this was followed by a similar feature on The One Show.

We worked closely with the in-house team to establish a Hedgehog Street landing page on Facebook and to reveal timely teasers and snippets of information about the initiative and TV filming on Facebook and Twitter.

We also brokered partnerships with other organisations such as the Royal Horticultural Society, resulting in a joint mail-out to all 350,000 subscribers of their Garden and Growing Communities magazines.

Evaluation

In the first six months of the campaign:

We secured 151 total items of coverage
Over 17,500 people across the UK have volunteered to be Hedgehog Champions, more than three times the original target
The Hedgehog Street website had 37,996 unique visits, with a 43% conversion rate of users registering as Champions. The Champion's forum and picture galleries are being used daily
Feedback indicates that Champions have been creating good hedgehog habitat, and many report an improved knowledge of their neighbours and a better community relationship
In some areas, such as London Borough of Havering, Derbyshire, and Runcorn and Widnes, the local council has backed the conservation campaign and is encouraging all its residents to consider hedgehogs. In Cardiff there are plans to set up a local Cardiff Champion Network.

PR Services provided

Media Relations

Successes

Partnerships with like-minded organisations
Extensive media exposure, including national television
Higher than anticipated public participation

More information

Find out how to become a Hedgehog Champion