You don’t need a sexy product or cool innovation to achieve great marketing.

Today we have an intriguing example from England.

Logo: St John Ambulance

St John Ambulance is the UK’s leading first aid charity, training emergency first-responders and civilians in schools, the workplace, and in communities across England.  The organization also serves as a frontline back-up to local municipal emergency services.  It’s on-call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for emergency support in the event of fire, flood, terror attacks or any time when there is increased pressure on local hospitals

This is serious stuff.  There’s a great marketing story, too.

St John Ambulance, just like its corporate brethren, faces challenges in achieving its mission.

According to CEO Sue Killen, “first aid saves lives but our research has found that most of us wouldn’t know what to do if confronted with a common emergency, like choking.  Too many lives are being lost when they could be saved, this is unacceptable and as the nation’s leading first aid charity we are determined to equip people to be the difference.”

To meet this challenge, St John Ambulance devised and created a hard-hitting, interactive film campaign that vividly dramatizes how first aid can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.  Check it out.

The film was finalized in a London theatre on October 29th.  BBH London, the creative power behind the idea, provided a full behind-the-scenes look at the idea and execution.

Ad: BBH London

This wasn’t the first “stop you in your tracks” marketing from St John Ambulance.  In April 2010, the organization used a visually arresting press, poster and iPhone app campaign “depicting five common scenarios in which first aid could have made the difference” to save a life.  To learn more, click here.

Headline For Marketers

Don’t let mature brands and commodity products stop you from producing terrific marketing.  As St John Ambulance vividly demonstrates, you can break through.  Understand your customers.  Focus on real benefits, problem-solving and opportunity generation for your customers.  Collaborate with your creative partners.  And be willing to embrace bold communication ideas.

Harvey Chimoff is a hands-on marketing leader and business-wide collaborator who builds marketing capabilities in B2B/B2C organizations that drive customer success.