The Loneliest Time of the Year

Client

Age Scotland Winter Campaign

Services
  • Campaign

Challenge

Winter is the hardest time of year for many older people in Scotland. 

58% of over 50s experience loneliness, rising to chronic levels for 1 in 10 over 65s. The festive period only intensifies that isolation. 

For Age Scotland, this makes December their most important fundraising window, but also the most competitive. National charities dominate with six-figure media budgets, while Age Scotland had significantly less. 

Alongside increasing demand for services and pressure on donor finances, the challenge was clear:

How do you deliver national impact and drive donations… without the budget to match? 

Solution

We designed a multi-channel strategy to make a small budget work harder, not louder. 

Rather than focusing purely on short-term fundraising, we built a full-funnel approach balancing brand and performance, structured around three principles: Scale, Relevance and Response. 

  • Scale: TV delivered national reach and credibility, amplified through STV’s Charity Growth Fund to extend impact without increasing spend. 
  • Relevance: Postcode-targeted social and podcast audio reinforced messaging at a local and personal level, aligning with door-drop activity and audience behaviours. 
  • Response: Search and behavioural remarketing captured intent, with budgets dynamically optimised towards high-propensity donors. 

Creative was continuously tested and refined in real time, ensuring the most effective message was delivered at each stage of the journey. 

The result was a tightly integrated system where each channel played a defined role, turning limited investment into meaningful impact. 

Results

Despite a 47% lower budget than the previous year, the campaign delivered record-breaking performance YoY: 

  • +21% increase in unprompted awareness (highest ever) 
  • +75% increase in website traffic 
  • +9% increase in online donation value  

Additional impact included: 

  • Record December traffic (+124% YoY), when all campaign channels were live. 
  • Brand awareness growth YoY in key younger and older donor segments 
  • Improved efficiency across paid media, with 45% improvement in cost-per-donation on digital channels YoY 
  • New donor acquisition directly driven by TV activity 

By focusing on smarter planning, not bigger spend, Age Scotland achieved national presence in the most competitive fundraising period and helped ensure fewer older people faced winter alone. 

The campaign won Gold in Media and Marketing in Society categories at the Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2026. 

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