Case studies
Back to previous pageFRANK Stakeholder Awards winner - Top Trumps
Area: East of England Winner: Bedfordshire County Council, James Morley, Carers commissioning ManagerBackground and rationale
Through its work with young people, Bedforshire Drug and Alcohol Team (DAT) identified the need for an interactive tool to enage and communicate the dangers of drugs to young people outside of the classroom, in particular to young offenders and children in care.
The Solution: 'Top Trumps' card game
The 52 Top Trumps cards represente a variety of different drugs and illustrate the many ways of taking each drug. The cards are also rated according to how risky and dangerous the drug on the card is: the concept of the game is that the more dangerous the drug, the less likely you are to win. Bedfordshire DAT created and used the Top Trumps card game to provide a parallel with real life and communicate the effects and consequences of taking drugs to young people.
The Process
Bedfordshire DAT consulted with young people to creat the initial idea and then developed three variations of the Top Trumps game. The DAT then worked with Hey Moscow, an external creative agency, to choose the final concept and idea and develop the cards.
What made Top Trumps an award-winning concept?
Innovative communications idea - Top Trumps card game is an interactive tool designed to engage and communicate with young people not in education, while also meeting their specific needs.
Consultative approach - Bedfordshire DAT consulted with young people and tested the idea with other DATs throughout the production and creative process.
Wide distribution - Having tested the idea with other DATs, Bedfordshire DAT then shared the concept and distributed the game to DATs across the East of England for use with their own young people. The game was also distributed through schools and youth workers.
Part of a wider campaign - Bedfordshire DAT produced additional tools alongside the cards so they could be adapted for local use and distributed more widely. For instance, a toolkit about working with young people and advice and information was given to different regions to guide them on how thye could adapt the cards for local use.
What Bedfordshire DAT said about the FRANK stakeholder Awards
"The process we went through to develop the cards really showed us how important partnership working is to ensure you have the 'right' product and the right distribution process. Entering and winning the FRANK awards allowed us to say thank-you to all the young people and parterns that worked with us to create this tool, and celebrate its success."
Bedfordshire DAT on FRANK and its stakeholder campaign
"The appearance of FRANK on the scene five years ago was a godsend as everyone really believed in the brand and its messages. It meant we could create materials and run activity using the FRANK branding and supporting materials that direct people to the FRANK national helpline. We started to work with FRANK to pilot ambient media campaigns in Bedofrdshire, for instance, a poster competition in local schools.
"Since then, we've continued to use FRANK branding on materials we develop, alongside our local service details and branding, as it's such a trusted brand".
"Many stakeholders across the country use the FRANK brand in a similar way so it's great that the awards recognise this and reward those people that have been running communication campaigns".
