Bupa have unveiled an initiative for visually impaired passengers at St Pancreas Station in London. MARKETING BEAT

Private healthcare provider Bupa is using braille and audio to encourage people to look beyond conventional portrayals of health in its role as the official healthcare partner for ParalympicsGB.

As part of the broader ‘This Is Health’ initiative, created for Bupa by MullenLowe Group, the campaign was launched with an immersive takeover of St. Pancras International’s Underground tunnel, timed to coincide with the start of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Developed by experience agency Momentum Worldwide, this immersive takeover incorporates print, audio, and braille elements to make the ads as inclusive as possible. Spatial audio narration guides people to braille located on the underside of the tunnel’s central handrails, offering a brief overview of the ‘Health is’ campaign.

The out-of-home campaign features Paralympians Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker and Hannah Cockroft OBE, with relatable images and video that reflect their daily lives. Through this, Bupa aims to promote a broader and more inclusive view of health, challenging traditional perceptions of what it means to be healthy.

All text in the ads is presented in an accessible typeface, chosen after several rounds of legibility testing to ensure the message reaches as many people as possible.

Bupa have unveiled an initiative for visually impaired passengers at St Pancreas Station in London. MARKETING BEAT
Bupa have unveiled an initiative for visually impaired passengers at St Pancreas Station in London. MARKETING BEAT

To further enhance inclusivity, the audio narrations were crafted to translate the campaign's message effectively, narrated by Samuel Parish, a voice artist with high-functioning autism. “The campaign aims to showcase different perspectives on health,” said Bupa’s director of brand marketing, Angelique Walker.

“To truly reflect what life is like with a disability, we worked with amputee photographer Sonny McCartney to capture everyday moments, along with accessibility marketing specialists. We hope the resulting campaign is a positive step forward in the representation of health in a more inclusive way.”

Moving images and edge-to-edge mirrors were also integrated to encourage commuters to see themselves in the campaign's narrative, reinforcing the idea that “Health is as unique as you are.” The campaign was developed in response to research indicating that over two in five people (42%) believe there’s a ‘one size fits all’ approach to how health is portrayed. 

This impact is most significant among disabled individuals, with more than one in 10 (11%) reporting that they’ve never seen an advert featuring someone like them. Bupa’s ‘Health is’ campaign will be featured in a nationwide out-of-home media plan throughout the Paralympic Games, which run until 8 September.