Submitted by Smoking Gun

Bake a Boob

Smoking Gun ran donated-time media and influencer work for Prevent Breast Cancer's online Bake a Boob competition, securing 26 pieces of coverage and around £800 in charity donations.

compared to the £93 raised at 2019's cake salecharity donations raised at prior year cake sale
Around £800 in charity donationscharity donations raised
A combined potential media reach of 70 millioncombined potential media reach
with a reach of more than 100,000 across Instagram and Facebookinfluencer coverage reach
14 pieces of influencer coveragepieces of influencer coverage

Case in 60 seconds

The pandemic put breast screenings on hold and Covid restrictions stopped supporters gathering physically, so Prevent Breast Cancer could not run its annual Bake a Boob cake sale in the form that had previously raised money.

The campaign appears to turn on the reading that baking was already a lockdown habit performed for an audience online, so a charity event asking people to bake at home and share the result fitted behaviour that was happening anyway rather than asking for a new one.

Rebuild a physical cake sale as an online creative competition in which the donation is set by the baker's own ingredient cost, which removes any fixed ticket price while keeping the link between taking part and giving.

Smoking Gun pitched Coronation Street's Victoria Ekanoye to national and regional TV and radio, liaised with influencers to encourage entries, advised on social media strategy, made a winner announcement video for the charity's channels, interviewed the winner about her breast cancer story, and secured raffle prizes from Greenhalgh's Craft Bakery and Roberts Bakery, with the winner crowned on Facebook Live.

Smoking Gun reports 26 pieces of coverage including the Manchester Evening News, ITV Granada Reports, BBC Radio Manchester and LBC, a combined potential media reach of 70 million, 14 pieces of influencer coverage with a reach of more than 100,000, and around £800 in charity donations compared to the £93 raised at 2019's cake sale.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Bakers across the country encouraged to enter the competition, alongside the charity's wider supporter base reached through national and regional media and influencers.
Lockdown made breast screening and fundraising harder at the same moment, so a charity whose work depends on prevention had to keep awareness up while the routine that delivers it was suspended.
Charity events built around people gathering lose both their fundraising mechanic and their news hook when gathering is banned, so the competition needed a format that generated coverage without a physical occasion.
Prevent Breast Cancer acted as the host of a participatory competition rather than as a straightforward donation appeal, with the charity's patrons and the winner's own story supplying the spokespeople.
Based on the available evidence, matching the donation to ingredient cost appears to lower the barrier to entry because the participant sets the amount through a purchase they have already made.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Partners

  • Smoking Gun (lead_agency)

Participation mechanic

  • Bakers made a batch of boob cakes in any shape, size or colour, matched the cost of their ingredients with a charity donation, and were invited to attend the Facebook Live event where the winner was crowned.

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
charity donations raised at prior year cake salecompared to the £93 raised at 2019's cake salebusiness
charity donations raisedAround £800 in charity donationsbusiness
combined potential media reachA combined potential media reach of 70 millionreach
influencer coverage reachwith a reach of more than 100,000 across Instagram and Facebookreach
pieces of influencer coverage14 pieces of influencer coveragecontent_pieces
pieces of media coverage26 pieces of coverageperformance
share of media coverage carrying key messaging and a fundraising call-to-action100% of media coverageperformance

Why Smoking Gun's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Setting the donation at the cost of the baker's own ingredients removes the pricing decision from the charity, which suits a fundraiser where participants are already spending money on the activity itself.

  2. 2

    Local celebrity patrons appear to work harder than national ones for a regionally rooted charity, because the coverage they unlock sits in outlets such as the Manchester Evening News and BBC Radio Manchester where the charity's supporter base already is.

  3. 3

    A live crowning event gives an entry-based competition a second moment to promote, which turns a one-off submission window into something participants have a reason to return for.

  4. 4

    Interviewing the winner about her own breast cancer story converts a fundraising result into feature material, which extends the campaign into women's magazines after the competition itself has closed.

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