Kevin Bolleteau I Motion & Design
Kevin Bolleteau I Motion & Design
How to drop the stigma plaguing Australians living with lung cancer and be someone who cares to improve outcomes?
The influence of stigma is shocking and it’s systemic: It leads to late diagnoses, less research funding, poor access to essential services and treatment, and impacts mental/emotional health. Despite being Australia’s largest cancer killer, lung cancer receives only a fraction of the research funding, with only 17% of those diagnosed living past the five-year mark.
Our approach was to develop a campaign that was too interesting for media not to report on it.
To do so, we turned our attention to the loved ones of those living with lung cancer. The real-life daughters, sons, sisters, wives, husbands and best friends of those living with lung cancer wanted to stop the stigma they saw had an impact every day.
We developed a striking photo series featuring these loved ones who implored the community,
through the campaign tagline, “Stop asking the wrong question about lung cancer.” The next line, depending on their relationship with the lung cancer patient was “Don’t ask if my mum smoked, instead ask why lung cancer patients are four times more likely to suicide than the general population,” or “Don’t ask if my wife smoked, instead ask why lung cancer takes more lives than breast, prostate and liver cancers combined, yet it is the least funded.” We launched this via a traditional media campaign, alongside outdoor advertising, in January 2019, with the loved ones in the campaign continuing as spokespeople.
200+ consumer and medical media placements, generating 22.8 million potential media impressions (Australian population: 24.6 million). A further 7.2 million were reached via social media.
Since the launch, LFA’s Canadian and British affiliates are now seeking opr’s guidance to replicate the campaign in their local markets.
An April 2019 survey revealed that after the campaign, 29% of Aussies would first ask someone diagnosed with lung cancer if they smoked, a drop of 27.5% compared to 2017.
To continue our sustained efforts at shifting perceptions, in March 2019 we then brought to life the frustrations of the clinical community on the front line of lung cancer care every day. They knew the extent of the stigma all too well.
We worked with eight oncologists, respiratory physicians, lung cancer nurses and researchers who united as one to say enough is enough when it comes to lung cancer stigma.