Bob Cope Senior Content Manager Macmillan Cancer Support

1. The risk of not taking risks
Bob Cope
Senior Content Manager
Macmillan Cancer Support
7 March 2019

2. The risk of not taking risks
Bob Cope - Senior Content Manager

3. Risk
• A situation involving exposure to danger.
• The possibility that something unpleasant or unwelcome will happen.
• A person or thing regarded as a threat or likely source of danger.
• The possibility of financial loss.

4. Risk aversion

5.
“We really want to try something new and bolder!”
Risk aversion

6. Risk aversion

7. • Risk aversion

8. What’s stopping us?
Repetition - easier for clients to manage, predictable product, predictable outcome (?)
Worried about bottom line - taking the least chances to not make target ROI
Staying in brand centre - looking for precedent, avoiding the fuzzy edges
Offence or alienation - turning off existing and committed audiences
Confidence or vision - not having a strong conceptual basis
Permission to fail (and learn)
Financial prudence - responsibility to donors / scrutiny of third sector

10. • UGC lead series of 9 videos and a Facebook Q&A
• 350k organic Facebook views, most socially engaged video
• Personal responses
• Charity Film Award - collected by Tyler
• Thanks from Charlie’s family

11. • Handing over editorial control to Charlie - final say
• Committing to a series without knowing the outcome - posting real time
• Putting Charlie and her family centre stage on social - moderation
• The affect on audiences of Charlie’s particular journey - faq’s
• Consent of participants - family, health professionals
• Letting Macmillan feature naturally

13. The risk of not taking risks
Law of diminishing returns - challenging FR climate
Preaching to the converted - GDPR, less warm contacts in the short term
Lack of distinctiveness in a crowded market - rise of video content (without branding?)
Lack of relevance - nothing new to say (message and delivery)
Not responsive to changing attitudes and habits, popular culture
Cut through - cluttered and Brexit obsessed news cycle

14. How to remove the risk from trying new things
Choose the right area of content - utility vs hero / targeted vs mass
Incremental low level test - to establish new style, format, tone of voice
Insight - user involvement from start, user testing a key points, multi-variate
See the value - look through all data to see where performance was strong
Admit failure and socialise the learning
Create the space - un branded, partially branded, partnership