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Get Cancer: Why Chemistry Went Provocative for the Irish Cancer Society

30/01/2017
Advertising Agency
Dublin, Ireland
267
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Chemistry’s Mags O’Reilly and Irish Cancer Society’s Gráinne O'Rourke on the daring new campaign that asks viewers to ‘get cancer’

At the beginning of January, the Irish Cancer Society launched a daring and provocative new campaign from leading Irish creative agency Chemistry. ‘Get Cancer’ aimed to kick-start a new conversation around the disease, which is likely to strike one in two of us by 2020.

Not only does the campaign features a host of real life cancer survivors who state that they want to ‘get cancer’, but the creative team who helped conceive it included team members who’d beaten the disease. 

Chemistry’s Senior Account Manager on the project, Mags O’Reilly, and the Irish Cancer Society’s Head of Communications, Gráinne O'Rourke, explain the reasons behind the provocative approach, which marked a complete departure from ICS’s previous campaigns…


LBB> How did the concept for the ‘Get Cancer’ campaign come about?

MO> The development of this campaign started almost three years ago, when we were tasked with developing a new platform for the Irish Cancer Society that would reposition people’s perception of cancer and, as a result, what exactly it is that the Irish Cancer Society does. There were two clear objectives. Firstly, the campaign needed to renew people’s commitment to the Irish Cancer Society through volunteering and donations. Secondly, it needed to encourage more people to engage both actively and positively in a wider conversation about cancer so that they can take measures to reduce their risk to cancer.

GO> Ultimately, this campaign is about saving lives. This is, in fact, a public awareness campaign. In spite of all our best efforts, cancer rates are continuing to rise. We’re always running different campaigns to increase awareness, to tell people about signs and symptoms, and to let people know about all the free supports that are available but, unfortunately, lots of people are not listening. We know this because they tell us after they've been diagnosed. Cancer is a complex disease, it doesn't affect all people the same and treatment is different in all cases. However, there are certain common factors across many cancers, such as early diagnosis, knowing the signs and symptoms, and that’s what we're trying to get across.


LBB > This campaign, with its daring and provocative nature, marks a complete departure from ICS’s previous marketing. Why did you feel the need to adopt this fresh approach?

GO>  The stark reality is that the number of people getting cancer is increasing in Ireland, so for the Irish Cancer Society to pretend that this isn’t the case would be irresponsible. One of the key objectives of this campaign is to try and make people aware that there are things we can do to reduce the risk of cancer and that there are supports available for those who need them, such as all the supports on offer, free of charge, from the Society. We know from our experience in the Society dealing with cancer patients and their families that this awareness does not in fact exist. We also know from colleagues in the National Screening Service that take-up of these services could be a lot better, even though these services are extremely well advertised and administered. By promoting such a hard-hitting campaign we are trying to get people more informed about cancer, we want people to seek out the facts.


LBB> Some who have lost loved ones to cancer have criticised the campaign as ‘lacking in sensitivity’. Did you anticipate the full scale of the response it has received? 

MO> The campaign was deliberately designed to be shocking because cancer is shocking. Equally, the cancer epidemic we are facing as a country is shocking. People are already afraid and uninformed, so there’s a need to work around this and encourage people to have more of an open mind about cancer – particularly in relation to what they can do about it.  Cancer isn’t going anywhere. In fact, unless we act it’s set to become even more widespread. Frankly there is an urgent need to deal with cancer better than we currently do. However, as there is both inertia and fear, it is crucial to get people’s attention.


LBB> The campaign was deliberately design to provoke rather than be empathetic, why did you choose this potentially controversial direction?

GO> There’s no doubt that this is a provocative, hard hitting and impactful campaign, but as far as we’re concerned it has to be. Cancer is hard hitting and impactful.

MO> The decision to run with a controversial line that might shock people wasn’t taken lightly. For over 50 years the Irish Cancer Society has been doing all it can to help those affected by cancer: by funding cancer research, by raising awareness of what people can do to reduce their risk of getting cancer, and by offering practical supports and help to those in need. But over the past number of years, they’ve watched the cancer rates rising steadily. By 2020, one in two of us will be getting cancer in our lifetime. As it currently stands, over 150 people in Ireland every day hear the words “You have cancer”.

Hopefully we’ve helped to create an environment where people feel they can now carry that conversation beyond the closed door of their oncologist’s office and discuss cancer and its affects in an even more open and transparent way – and for that reason we wouldn’t change anything about the campaign. 


LBB> Did the presence of cancer survivors on the creative team and as colleagues influence the development of this project at all? 

GO> The campaign features about a dozen cancer survivors who have lent their support to the campaign. Many of the people involved directly in the making of these adverts have had, or have been directly affected by, cancer, including some of the people in the ad itself. The young man on the surf board, for example, his mother died from cancer, and the lady in the garden is a cancer survivor. A number of the creative team in the advertising agency have also had cancer.

MO> It’s rare for someone not to have been touched by cancer and as an advertising agency we are no different. Our MD, Ray, survived prostate cancer, one of our copywriters, Mark, survived a chest tumour, but other staff members have not been so lucky and have sadly lost loved ones to it. We knew how important this campaign was because of first-hand experience; how important it was to be brave in the fight against cancer and not continue to walk on egg shells or talk in hushed tones about it. Many members of staff have contributed blogs posts about their experiences to support the campaign which you can read on our website. 


LBB> Some call into question the effectiveness of advertising for charity organisations, positing whether the money could be better spent on their services instead. How important is it for charity organisations to be engaged in advertising?

MO> Lots of people call into question the effectiveness of advertising full stop - not just for the charity sector! As such it’s imperative for advertising to prove its worth and take responsibility for its actions and deliver results. It’s even more important for charities like The Irish Cancer Society - which is 98% public funded - do to so, because it has a duty to be transparent with how donations are spent. 


LBB>  It’s fair to say that the Irish Cancer Society is perceived as part of Ireland’s infrastructure, so is this campaign as much about rallying people to give up their time as volunteers - and appeal to donators – as much as it is a vow to ‘get cancer’? 

MO> Absolutely. The campaign was designed to renew people’s commitment to the Irish Cancer Society through volunteering or donating, but there’s also the other side to the campaign which is to highlight to people the importance of finding out about the risk factors associated with cancer and methods of prevention. At present, there are over 150,000 cancer survivors in Ireland, and that number is rising all the time. So if you do get cancer there is real hope.


LBB> A number of unbranded teasers were launched before ICS claimed ownership, following up with a full-scale launch. Why did you approach the campaign this way?

MO> The strategy behind the campaign’s launch was that it was deliberately designed to get people talking about cancer and to highlight the supports available from the Irish Cancer Society, as well as the steps everyone can take to reduce their chances of developing cancer in the future. Over 150 people a day are diagnosed with cancer in Ireland – that’s one person every 3 minutes, or 40,000 people a year. The teasers ran initially to get people talking about cancer, but a follow up 40” tv, outdoor, radio and press campaign provided the public with more information, more context and elaborated on the line. 

The Irish Cancer Society’s marketing budgets are modest so we wanted to take full advantage of the fact that running the ads in January would mean we could get more for our money in terms of media spend. We also benefitted from a lot of good will and many of the people involved in developing the campaign donated their time and resources, something for which we are very grateful.

GO> For over 50 years the Irish Cancer Society has been doing all we can to help those affected by cancer by funding cancer research (over €14million between 2010-14); by raising awareness of what people can do to reduce their risk of getting cancer; and by offering practical supports and help to those in need.


LBB> It’s early stages in the campaign but has it been a success so far? 

GO> Since the Campaign launched, among other positive outcomes, calls to our Freephone Cancer Nurseline, 1800 200 700, have doubled from people who are looking for information on how to get screened for cancer, and who have general queries about cancer risk reduction. We have also had a huge increase in traffic to our website from people who are downloading information about cancer.

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