Alzheimer's Society Puts the Carer Centre-Stage in Its Latest 'A Personal Appeal'
Updated: 3 days ago
Alzheimer's Society has launched the second film in its 'A Personal Appeal' platform, shifting perspective to a husband and carer, and citing that only 23% of the public understand what dementia is.
What Alzheimer's Society launched
Alzheimer's Society has released the second instalment of its 'A Personal Appeal' brand platform, shifting perspective to Mark, husband and carer to Rachel, whose dementia symptoms are progressing. Created by New Commercial Arts, the film dramatises the toll of caring while highlighting the charity's support services, and runs across TV, on-demand, radio, podcasts, YouTube and social.
It cites stark gaps in public understanding: only 23% of the public understand what dementia is and its effects, and just 10% know it is the UK's leading cause of death; the charity notes one in three people will develop dementia in their lifetime.
Why it matters
Charity advertising usually points its lens at the person with the condition. By turning to the carer, Alzheimer's Society is widening the story to the millions of people whose lives are reshaped around someone else's illness — a larger, often-overlooked audience who both need support and can give it.
Our read: the data does the persuasion. With just 23% of the public understanding dementia and only 10% aware it is the UK's leading cause of death, the charity is not merely tugging heartstrings — it is correcting a knowledge gap. Pairing emotion with a hard, surprising statistic is what turns a moving ad into a memorable, shareable one.
What businesses should do
When your whole category tells the same kind of story, change the vantage point. Focusing on the carer rather than the patient is a small shift that unlocks a fresh, underserved audience — the equivalent, for any brand, of finding the person adjacent to your obvious customer.
And anchor emotion to a fact. The 23% statistic gives viewers something concrete to carry away and repeat. Emotion earns the attention; a surprising data point earns the memory. The strongest cause and brand work uses both.
Quick FAQ
What is 'A Personal Appeal'?
Alzheimer's Society's brand platform by New Commercial Arts; its second film focuses on Mark, a husband and carer to his wife Rachel as her dementia progresses.
What statistics does the campaign cite?
That only 23% of the public understand what dementia is and its effects, and just 10% know it is the UK's leading cause of death.
Why focus on the carer?
To reach the large, often-overlooked audience of people whose lives revolve around caring for someone with dementia.
Most charity work points the camera at the patient; turning it on the carer opens up a huge, underserved audience. And pairing that with the fact that only 23% of people understand dementia is what makes it stick — emotion earns attention, but a surprising statistic earns the memory. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Shifting the vantage point unlocks an overlooked audience — and anchoring emotion to a hard statistic is what turns a moving ad into a memorable one.
Is there an audience adjacent to your obvious customer whose story you've never actually told?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Alzheimer's Society, Campaign UK.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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