Love Ideas Hackathon: Using Behavioural Science for Good

Last week, the Leopard Co offices buzzed with creativity, collaboration, and purpose as we hosted the Love Ideas Hackathon. This event brought together some of the brightest minds in marketing and behavioural science to tackle real-world challenges set by two brilliant charities: SIFA Fireside and Birmingham Dogs Home.

With a mix of Leopard Co consultants and 10 client marketers, we divided into two groups, each taking on one charity’s challenge. The goal? To apply behavioural science principles and our ROAR campaign planning approach to develop impactful marketing solutions that will help these charities achieve their 2025 objectives.

Setting the Scene: The Power of Behavioural Science

The morning session kicked off with an introduction to Leopard Co’s approach to behavioural science-led marketing planning. We explored our CATERS framework, a refined version of the renowned EAST framework (Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely), and introduced 16 key behavioural biases that influence human decision-making.

Among them were:

• The Cocktail Party Effect – People are drawn to information that feels personally relevant to them.
• Keats Heuristic – Rhyme and rhythm can boost memorability in messaging.
• Dynamic Social Proof – Showing that a behaviour is gaining momentum encourages more people to follow suit.

Armed with these insights, the teams were ready to tackle the charity briefs.

The Challenges: Real Problems, Smart Solutions

Birmingham Dogs Home – The Big Bed Appeal

Birmingham Dogs Home is launching The Big Bed Appeal, a campaign to improve the wellbeing of dogs in their care by providing durable, comfortable, raised beds for every kennel. While the need is clear, the challenge lies in how best to market this campaign to different audiences—corporate donors and individual supporters.

For corporate donors, the focus needed to be on positioning the appeal in a way that aligns with CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) goals, brand values, and employee engagement initiatives. For the general public, the campaign required emotionally compelling messaging that made each supporter believe their contribution, no matter how small, was making a real difference. The team worked on a structured approach to differentiate the messaging and outreach for each audience while maintaining a strong and unified campaign message.

SIFA Fireside – Securing Financial Donations

SIFA Fireside plays a critical role in supporting homeless and vulnerably housed individuals in Birmingham. While they have successfully built an extensive network of over 500 corporate partners, much of this support comes in the form of Gift in Kind (GIK) donations, such as food, toiletries, and clothing. While these contributions are valuable, there has been a decline in financial donations, which are essential for keeping their services running.

Their challenge was to develop a strategy that encourages businesses to provide unrestricted financial donations instead of, or alongside, in-kind support. The team explored ways to reframe the ‘ask’ and communicate the necessity of financial contributions, ensuring corporate partners understood how direct funding enables the charity to continue providing vital services.

The Afternoon: Turning Insights into Action 

In the second half of the day, each team used Leopard Co’s ROAR approach to shape their campaigns. ROAR stands for:

• Research – Understanding audience motivations, barriers, and existing behaviour.
• Opportunity – Identifying key insights and moments to influence action.
• Activation – Developing creative concepts that apply behavioural science principles. Results – Ensuring campaigns are measurable and impactful.

Over the next few hours, the groups discussed, refined, and built out three campaign concepts each, ensuring every idea was backed by psychological principles that drive real behaviour change.

The Big Pitch: Voting on Winning Ideas

As the day drew to a close, both teams presented their ideas back to the group. The energy in the room was electric, with each concept pitched showcasing the creative, strategic solutions for each charity.

After a group vote, the winning campaign concepts were chosen for each charity. Now, Leopard Co team will further develop these campaigns and work with SIFA Fireside and Birmingham Dogs Home to bring them to life in 2025.