2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

The brief was changing perception of breast cancer as the “bad disease” people shy away from, and spread awareness about it that people start including it among the causes they’re willing to donate to in the future. The challenge: People in Ramadan become less receptive to TV with the commercial clutter and charity related ads blackmailing them for their sympathy & donations. So Baheya had to break through the TV clutter of Ramadan and find a way to grab attention. Strategy: Baheya capitalized on the daily rituals of people in Ramadan, and went where our audience naturally goes: Dessert Shops.

Creative Execution

The promotional idea was simple: Buy a treat, save a life. Baheya went to 34 of the biggest dessert shops in Cairo, and through the month of Ramadan they turned the standard pink wrapping ribbon into the breast cancer ribbon, along with a sticker saying facts about breast cancer. Baheya asked people to pay an extra 5LE donation, which they gladly did, given the Ramadan occasion and how insignificant it is compared to the average dessert price. Thus, guaranteeing breast cancer awareness messages delivered not only to the person who bought the ribbon, but also to every other person they encounter, turning breast cancer into a topic of conversation and raising awareness about its precautionary measures. We transformed desserts during the month of Ramadan into a new medium, which travel around with the person who buys them to every gathering and get exposed to more people.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The result was our pink ribbons reaching 70,000 Egyptian households, meaning breast cancer awareness messages delivered not only to the person who bought the ribbon, but also to every other person they encounter. With zero media spending, our hashtag #pinkramadan spread organically and people started sharing pictures of the ribbon and facts about breast cancer. The campaign had a total of 3M reach and 4M impressions with 89% of the posts in Egypt coming from males. The campaign achieved 10 million dollars worth earned media and a had a 1:18 return on investment. And most importantly, there was a huge increase in early detection calls in Baheya, that the hospital had to push the working hours of Ramadan with 2 more hours. Breast cancer turned from a cause people shy away from to a cause they are willing to donate money to.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Baheya activated breast cancer awareness messages in dessert shops with a simple call for action: Buy a treat, save a life. They have intrigued people’s attention as 34 of the biggest dessert shops in town changed their dessert ribbon into the pink breast cancer ribbon, at a peak time such as Ramadan, where people went to dessert shops more than anything else and dessert’ sales increased by 64%. The activation depended on people’s interaction, taking our awareness messages along with them to spread in every household and every Ramadan gathering.