2009 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Every year breast cancer affects over a million women around the world. By all verifiable accounts, its incidence increases with age making it the most prevalent form of cancer among women. According to doctors, early detection without a shred of doubt is the best cure. In the Middle-East, women are not keenly aware of the symptoms that cause breast cancer. More importantly they do not examine their breasts on a regular basis. The task at hand was to find a creative way to encourage women to examine their breasts for any kind of irregularity. How could one best simulate the tactile act of examining ones breasts for any kind lump and protrusion?

Creative Execution

The most common symptoms of breast cancer according to all verifiable estimates are lumps and other protrusions. This DM in the form of a light pink stress ball with a stone embedded inside, simulates for women the experience of feeling and recognizing a lump without having to actually touch their own breast. Hence this tactile experience forms a very strong link between the creative device and the service.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

Lumps and cysts are the most recognisable symptoms of breast cancer. Hence the DM took the form of a stress ball that was light pink in colour. Embedded inside was a stone or a piece of concrete. Upon squeezing the stress ball one felt a distinct lump. This interaction with the stress ball was the closest tactile experience to touching one’s own breast. The message screen-printed on the ball rounded off the message seamlessly: If it doesn’t feel right, something could be wrong. Early detection can help you fight breast cancer.

Results

250 of these direct mailers were sent to Arabic women (between the ages of 33 – 47) across the UAE. Within two weeks, 63% of the recipients called up FOCP seeking more information on clinics and hospitals that performed mammograms. Since this is an ongoing exercise for the next couple of months, the exact effectiveness of this campaign cannot be precisely measured. But FOCP will in the next couple of weeks mail another batch of these mailers to an additional 250 women.