I TOUCH MYSELF PROJECT

Silver Spike
TitleI TOUCH MYSELF PROJECT
BrandCANCER COUNCIL NSW
Product / ServiceBREAST CANCER PREVENTION
CategoryB01. Education & Awareness
EntrantJWT Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company JWT Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Advertising Agency JWT Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production Company COLLIDER Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production Company 2 STUDIOS 301 Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production Company 3 SOAP CREATIVE Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Simon Langley JWT Executive Creative Director
Mark Harricks JWT Executive Creative Director
Jenny Willits JWT General Manager
Vicky Ryan JWT Agency Producer
Alexandra Antoniou JWT Senior Art Director
Sylvianne Heim JWT Senior Writer
Sinead Roarty JWT Senior Writer
Paul Everson JWT Client Services Director
Caroline Ludwell JWT Account Director
Monica Tobin JWT Account Manager
Ali Clemesha JWT Account Executive
Angela Morris JWT Executive Planning Director
Trevor Crossman JWT Digital Strategy
Jesse James Mcelroy JWT Agency Tv Production
Tommie Mcsweeney JWT Agency Tv Production
Ashadi Hopper Soap Creative Executive Creative Director/Digital
Brad Eldridge Soap Creative Creative Partner
Mark Fennel Soap Creative Technology Director
Charlotte Ludlow Soap Creative Senior Digital Producer

The Campaign

1 in 8 Australian women will develop breast cancer. While most pink campaigns focus on fundraising, the importance of detecting cancer in its early stages has been largely ignored. Cancer Council NSW wanted a campaign that would inspire women to self-examine and catch the disease early. It was critical the campaign had cut-through in the cluttered charity space. However they wanted to achieve this with no media budget. Last year, Australian rock diva Chrissy Amphlett, of the Divinyls, died from breast cancer. 'I Touch Myself' was their biggest hit and touched millions of fans around the globe. We created the I Touch Myself Project, transforming a song about female sexuality into an anthem for breast cancer, to inspire a new generation of women to touch themselves. We brought ten of Australia’s leading female singers together. From rock goddesses to indie pop sensations, soul singers to sopranos, the singers harmonise in an almost a cappella version of 'I Touch Myself'. It was an amazing story to tell – and utilising star power to deliver a health message in a new and powerful way was the way to tell it. We reached audiences of 400 million plus and, more importantly, saved lives.

The Brief

• Target women of all ages (18-85) across metro and regional Australia, whilst gaining cut-through for all demographics with simple, positive messaging around an emotional subject. • Demystify and simplify what women can do to prevent and detect breast cancer at every age. • Change behaviour by communicating the key message 'to touch yourself' in a memorable and emotive way. • Inspire women who haven’t thought about being susceptible to breast cancer to start checking their breasts for early signs.

Creative Execution

Media coverage flowed in a story arc as designed, peaking on launch day (April 14th) continuing throughout the launch week and peaking again on the inaugural I Touch Myself Day (April 21st – the first anniversary of Chrissy Amphlett’s passing) continuing with social media activations and fresh content released weekly. Teasers were seeded to the public via national TV and print media exclusives published the day before launch to build hype. The campaign maintained momentum in the following week as media were fed new assets and news. Media spiked again on the inaugural I Touch Myself Day, with further national news radio, and breakfast TV interviews by Chrissy’s husband Charley Drayton. We kept the story fresh with a photographic exhibition (which was so popular it was extended by a week). Media updated their initial stories as the different phases of the campaign came to life, including the #itouchmyselfie social media engagement campaign.

Within hours of release, the campaign became a media and social media circuit-breaker. International media picked it up within hours of launch, reaching audiences of 400 million plus. In Australia, the key twelve media hours of launch day (6.30am-6.30pm) saw the I Touch Myself Project receive a mention every 15 minutes across Australian broadcast media (radio or TV). TV news and long-form segments ran across all major national free-to-air TV networks (including regional). Extensive radio interviews with talent were successfully pitched to talkback radio with blanket coverage on relevant web and news sites. • 100% positive media coverage • 100% key message integration • Equating to media coverage worth more than $AUD 7,332,432 in PR Value ($AUD 4,092,690 aligning to TV, $AUD 827,283 radio support, $AUD 2,412,459 in print and online coverage). • Global coverage includes: The Daily Mail UK, Huffington Post, Yahoo!Shine, Billboard, Guardian, NZ Herald and Fast Company.

Key to planning was leveraging the great love for Chrissy as well as our artists' star power and varied demographic appeal to get our breast health message across. Music Video The music video launched to an audience of 2.2 million on Australia’s top-rating evening current affairs show Sunday Night (it was the most shared segment in the show's history). The video was embedded in the website. PSA 60-second TVCs were played on all Australian free-to-air channels, in cinema and pay-TV. Social Influencers From the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to the First Lady of Timor-Leste, we enlisted prominent women to encourage women to touch themselves. Social Media Women demonstrated behaviour change by posting an I Touch Myselfie and making a pledge to touch themselves. OOH OOH links directly to bespoke content from each artist about how they have been touched by breast cancer and their own version of the song.