A campaign to put nursing firmly on the agenda

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland represents over 52,000 registered nurses, healthcare workers and nursing students across the country. They campaign on current issues, influence policy making and promote excellence in the profession.
Ahead of the 2026 Scottish election, they needed a bold campaign that compelled political action and reinforced the critical importance of nursing to society

Five years on from the previous Scottish parliament elections, RCN Scotland members were facing a list of broken promises, no meaningful improvement to health and care services, and were dealing with relentless pressure – all while feeling demoralised and undervalued in their profession.

Nursing was on its knees.

For their pre-election campaign, braver creative was needed. Creative that members could get behind, and politicians couldn’t ignore.

The idea was simple, but poignant. This election, The Gloves were Off.

The line was a cut-through call-to-action that acted as a clear message of intent to politicians, and a rallying call for their members.

To visualise this, we took the piece of kit that the profession uses day in, day out – blue medical gloves. It was a powerful and immediate visual metaphor. They’re synonymous with care and protection. Nurses are defined with what they do with their hands, and we were asking politicians to imagine a world where they are no longer there.

The campaign had to reflect multi-roles, multi-experience levels and a proudly diverse workforce. So, using real, practicing members, we shot clean photography of them removing their gloves.

Using this photography, we created a suite of campaign materials, most important of which was the manifesto, outlining their asks from parliamentary candidates. This was accompanied by social assets, merch and rep packs. Executions targeted MSPs, members and the public.

Launched at Holyrood, the campaign then took to the streets with tactical OOH placement on hospital travel routes, while MSPs were further targeted with a mailer that contained a pair of physical blue gloves with the campaign messaging printed on them.

The Gloves are Off campaign was an idea and visual that united a profession behind a shared message, cut through the noise of an election cycle, and made it impossible for politicians to ignore the reality facing nursing in Scotland.