2011 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

The campaign was a huge success. Over 1,000 balloons were spread across the mall, supermarkets and through the streets of Beirut. The campaign generated a large amount of media coverage, leading to $32,000 of free media impressions. It also increased awareness of breast cancer amongst women as the Think Pink website enjoyed a 30% increase in traffic following the campaign, and our breast cancer balloon epidemic received media coverage from radio stations, newspapers, magazines and featured on online blogs.

Creative Execution

Due to the sensitivities of the region it was important to approach the problem of breast cancer awareness carefully. However, we didn’t want to tip-toe around the issue. We wanted to create change in women’s habits. We wanted our idea to be noticed, be talked about and gain momentum, while remaining sympathetic to local cultural. So we coupled our simple and friendly concept with partners that women in Lebanon related to, trusted and were familiar with. We approached Le Mall, one of Lebanon’s major shopping centres and a popular hang out for women of all ages. This partnership gave us a great combination of a simple and attention grabbing idea and the perfect location to target women in familiar surroundings. We also spoke to radio stations who announced the event. Word was also spread through blogs and women’s magazines.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Breast cancer accounts for 41% of all cancer cases among women in Lebanon. While breast cancer is one of the most curable forms of cancer, death rates remain high in the Middle East due to women in the region being sensitive and self conscious about their bodies, therefor not getting themselves regularly checked. This insight was the starting point for our campaign. We wanted to address this target audience with a campaign that tore down cultural taboos and gave the women of Lebanon the confidence to face up to the realities of breast cancer and the importance of regular check ups. The idea resonated with the target audience as it gave an innocent face and simple demonstration to a culturally sensitive subject. For the client, we created a campaign that not only cut through Lebanon’s cluttered outdoor advertising, grabbing peoples attention, but lived within the budget constraints.