Umbrella Sexual Health | Behavioural Science Campaigns | Digital Advertising

Umbrella partnered with Leopard to raise awareness of its discreet sexual health services across Birmingham and Solihull, encouraging people to take control of their sexual health with confidence.

Using behavioural science, humour and locally relevant creative, we developed an attention-grabbing advertising campaign designed to make sexual health messaging more memorable and approachable. The success of the initial campaign sparked a partnership spanning more than six years, delivering integrated OOH, paid social and PPC campaigns that drive engagement and measurable results.

Challenge

Talking about sexual health can feel uncomfortable, and concerns around privacy or stigma can create barriers to accessing services. Umbrella needed to raise awareness of its discreet STI self-sampling kits and encourage people across Birmingham to take a more proactive approach to their sexual health.

The challenge was to communicate an important healthcare message in a way that would capture attention, feel approachable and motivate people to act. It needed to stand out in busy advertising environments, resonate with local audiences and make a sensitive topic easier to talk about.

As the partnership evolved, the challenge expanded to reaching different audiences across Birmingham and Solihull with messages covering STIs, HIV, chlamydia and wider sexual health services.

Umbrella Sti Self Sampling Campaign Case Study 1

Solution

Behavioural science was central to our approach. We used our understanding of healthcare marketing and human behaviour to develop creative messaging that would help normalise conversations around sexual health and encourage uptake of Umbrella's STI self-sampling kits.

Our research highlighted the importance of making information memorable, using humour to reduce discomfort and creating a sense of familiarity through locally relevant messaging.

These insights shaped a creative approach built around three behavioural principles:

The generation effect: Encouraging audiences to actively engage with campaign messaging, rather than passively consume it, to make information more memorable.
Humour: Using playful, carefully crafted messaging to create positive associations with sexual health and make the subject feel more approachable.
The cocktail party effect: Drawing on familiar Birmingham landmarks and local references to capture attention and make the campaign feel relevant to its audience.

Together, these principles gave us a creative platform designed to open up conversations, challenge perceptions and encourage people to take control of their sexual health.

Umbrella Sti Self Sampling Campaign Case Study 2

Umbrella Sti Self Sampling Campaign Case Study 4

Creative and out-of-home advertising

To bring the campaign to life, we developed a series of bold, eye-catching out-of-home adverts that playfully combined well-known Birmingham landmarks with cheeky innuendos.

The creative used humour and local familiarity to give audiences an unexpected way into a serious healthcare message. By making the advertising recognisable, memorable and easy to talk about, we helped position sexual health as something people could engage with more openly.

The approach struck a balance between playful creativity and clear public health messaging, helping Umbrella stand out while keeping its discreet, accessible services at the heart of the campaign.

Umbrella Sti Self Sampling Campaign Case Study 3

Integrated digital advertising

Following the success of the initial campaign, our partnership with Umbrella evolved into an ongoing programme of integrated advertising activity. We developed campaigns covering a range of sexual health topics, including STIs, HIV and chlamydia, adapting our creative approach and messaging to reflect the needs of different audiences.

From students during Freshers' Week to older adults across Birmingham and Solihull, each campaign was shaped around the behaviours, motivations and media preferences of the people we needed to reach.

By combining strategic OOH placements with paid social and PPC, we created multiple opportunities for audiences to encounter Umbrella's messaging and take action.

Impact

By combining behavioural science with bold creative and targeted media planning, we helped Umbrella make sexual health messaging more engaging and accessible to audiences across Birmingham and Solihull.

The initial campaign established the foundations of a partnership that has continued for more than six years, delivering:

Over 30% click-through rates at peak performance for STI Kit and Freshers campaigns, with engagement consistently exceeding industry benchmarks.
Conversion rates of up to 31%, helping turn campaign engagement into meaningful action.
An average Google Ads cost per click of just £0.50, 75% lower than the health sector average cited in the campaign results.
A 497% increase in website users over the last three years, demonstrating significant growth in digital reach and engagement.
More than six years of partnership, delivering campaigns across OOH, paid social and PPC for a diverse range of audiences.

By making sexual health communications more memorable, locally relevant and accessible, our ongoing partnership has helped Umbrella connect with audiences, encourage engagement and drive measurable results.