Helping women get “hands-on” with breast cancer

HCF

"Hands On" 

 

How WE helped leverage HCF’s partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to help women get “hands-on” with their health

PROBLEM 

After an ambitious rebrand that included a new sponsorship strategy focused on “championing healthy futures,” HCF developed a partnership with National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF).

We were tasked with maximizing the partnership with a view to increasing brand reach and awareness, creating deep engagements and shifting consumer perceptions to align with the new HCF brand.

 

SOLUTION 

We developed a creative campaign concept based on a single killer insight: Although women are well-educated around the importance of regular breast checks, there’s been little discussion to date around what to feel for.

To approach this knowledge gap, we created “Hands On” — an integrated campaign designed to give Australians in metro and rural communities “hands-on” experience in identifying the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.

We backed up our thinking with a consumer research piece, which revealed that despite 92% of Australians knowing it’s important to regularly check their breasts, only one-in-four are actually doing so. Our research also showed that many women don’t know what to look or feel for, with most using self-taught examination methods. These results confirmed the perceived education gap the “Hands On” campaign would address.

We launched during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, working with agency partners across owned, earned and paid to execute a series of activations and Q&A sessions at HCF branches across the nation. Activations included an interactive station that allowed visitors to feel replica breasts, an educational video highlighting early signs to look for and take-home collateral prompting and guiding regular checks. Local GPs, breast cancer survivors and researchers also gave advice, shared personal experiences and took questions.

The channel mix also included local area marketing, digital content, traditional media, PR, social media and member communications.

 

RESULTS

Our campaign featured:

  • 18 “hands-on” events. 46% of attendees left feeling confident about how to feel for normal breast tissue
  • 210 pieces of coverage and 38 radio segments with a combined reach of 3.9 million
  • Social media content with a reach of 944K
  • First-time visitors to the website via the campaign page averaging an engagement rate of 72% vs. general site average of 57%

Following the campaign, HCF experienced:

  • A 5x increase in awareness of its association with NBCF (4% before vs. 19% during)
  • A net consideration increase of 14 points among those who interacted with the “hands-on” event
  • A strong uplift in key brand image messaging

 

Learn more about our Healthcare Communications »