The National Phobics Society is a UK charity devoted to helping people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The most common form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is obsessive hand- washing. The charity asked us to test a 'hothouse campaign' in Manchester. The aim, to generate calls to the Call Centre and raise awareness. The budget for this test was £10,000.

We designed a sticker to look like a UK government Health Department sticker. This one read: NOW WASH YOUR HANDS. Or call the National Phobics Society on 0870 770 0456.We then blitzed Central Manchester with 5,000 of these stickers. We put them anywhere people might have to touch with their fingers. Door handles, lift buttons, cash machines, etc etc. We knew that obsessive handwashers would never touch those things without having to wash their hands. When they (or their long suffering loved ones) saw the sticker, they would know the Phobic Society understood their problem.

The two weeks after the campaign saw a 11% uplift in calls to the National Phobics Society’s Call Centre. As far as awareness is concerned, the campaign was also a huge success. The campaign was covered on the local BBC evening news. More importantly, the National Phobics Society was then featured for 12 minutes in a prime-time BBC1 programme. Such exposure is worth an estimated £420,000 in airtime. Not bad results for a £10,000 budget.