Rethink Breast Cancer
#8008135

The Goal

We live in a world where teen girls are bombarded with information and misinformation about breast cancer, making it unclear what is fact and what is fiction. As a result, teen girls are overestimating their risk when in reality, they have less than a 0.06% chance of getting breast cancer at their age. Adding to the level of uncertainty, the tone of conventional breast cancer PSAs and facts are often negative and scary, which perpetuates more feelings of unease.

As one of the leading breast cancer awareness organizations in North America, Rethink Breast Cancer (RBC) wanted to find a way to reach these young women in a unique and approachable way. Instead of contributing to the culture of anxiety around breast cancer, the brand used a fresh, more positive approach in the tone of its communication to make the issue more approachable.

The Target

Knowing that the target audience are true digital natives, the brand needed to catch them where they are 24/7 - on social media. To help teen girls navigate the noise, the digital agency created #8008135 - a fun, fresh and fully integrated social-first campaign that speaks directly to them, giving them the real facts on breast health and provided girls with a safe space to ask their most personal breast health questions. The campaign empowered teen girls to get breast-educated and understand their bodies - because the best breast cancer prevention is education.

"#8008135 is an important, youthful voice to add to the breast cancer movement. As a mother of a teen girl myself, I think it's important we are properly educating our youth on the importance of breast health and the realities of breast cancer, without turning to a narrative of fear." - MJ DeCoteau, founder and ED of Rethink Breast Cancer."

The Key Insight

Misinformation fuels fear, which reduces the likelihood of young women to seek out life-saving information about their breast health.

The One-line Idea

To educate teen girls on the real facts, Rethink Breast Cancer created the first ever breast health hotline, online.

The Plan

Rethink Breast Cancer developed the first ever breast health chatbot dedicated to busting breast cancer myths and answering breast cancer health questions. The brand partnered with teen influencers for a launch video, as well as international artists to create social content that was deployed on its Instagram channel. The team built a working phone booth that gave teens a physical safe space to learn about breast cancer prevention. Lastly, team designed a limited-edition t-shirt collection for H&M that got people wearing their support on their chests - literally.

Technology and Tools

By using social platforms that were popular with the desired target market such as Instagram and Facebook, the brand was able to engage teens in conversations around the misconceptions of breast health. Through a Facebook messenger chatbot, freeform communication flowed between teens and a "hotline" which used quizzes, quirky gifs and a gamified educational experience to inform and answer questions. The chatbot was featured on Facebook's platform as a best in class example of chatbots and featured globally for brands and developers to see.

User Experience

The campaign played out on various social channels, each channel having a unique way to engage teens. Global Instagram influencers were used to share content with their large following to provide a resourceful and informative conversation while spreading awareness. At Buffer Festival, more chatboxes and phonebooths were on display for teens to continue to ask their questions around the topic in a safe, judgement-free environment.

The Results

The agency created a multi-platform experience for young teens looking for an engaging opportunity to educate and empower themselves. It deployed 2,674 #8008135 tees to six H&M stores throughout Canada, selling out the collection at Toronto's biggest flagship.With no media budget in place, the brand received $260k in donated media placements. Seven OOH placements were donated by leading Canadian media agencies. Digital media placements were donated by Cue Digital and Spotify. Gen Z influencers featured in the launch video included Peyton List,
Maeve Tomalty, Mia Carucci and Meghan Huges. The campaign earned over 13 million media impressions. Earned/Paid Media impressions included through personalities like Olivia Wilde, Sarah Fisher, Mary Young, Robin J, Natasha Negovanlis and Arden Rose.