Breaking Barriers with BSL

Agency: OmniGOV at MG OMD & ITV
Client: NHS England

Timely visits to the GP are crucial when people have signs/symptoms of cancer, but there are a number of barriers holding people back. Our campaign was designed to address this. While our primary audience was adults aged 50+ from C2DE groups who are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer, we wanted to ensure this crucial, lifesaving message reached everyone. But we spotted an audience who were unconsciously excluded from our primarily AV messaging – the deaf and people who are hard of hearing.

Through collaboration with NHS England, their accessibility consultancy BDS, ITV and the creative agency, we not only created a bespoke British Sign Language (BSL) TVC for viewers who need accessibility settings but also pioneered a media-first buying route with ITV. This ensured that BSL users were able to access content tailored specifically to their needs, marking a significant step forward in making advertising more inclusive and diverse. This collaboration with ITV has led to the development of a targeted solution for communicating with BSL users in a way that truly meets their needs, opening up new accessibility opportunities for the advertising industry as a whole.