The Brief

Breast Cream is a revolutionary new way to help women fight breast cancer. By creating a beauty product, we’ve activated an audience that would normally switch off to a traditional breast cancer campaign. It gives women a tangible way to take action and start checking their breasts. It overcomes the barriers women have to self-checking, making it as comfortable and familiar as applying a moisturiser. The bright pink tube is designed to be a visible reminder to check yourself regularly, sitting next to your toothbrush and deodorant on your bathroom shelf. And the leaflet inside the box contains comprehensive information on the signs and symptoms to look for. Breast Cream puts our message directly in women’s hands. Simply by using it, they are performing the life-saving behaviour the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation advocates.

Creative Execution

Instead of another ad campaign, we created Breast Cream - a moisturiser that makes checking your breasts a part of your regular beauty routine. The simple act of applying it helps you look and feel for any lumps or changes that could be signs of cancer. And it’s as easy and familiar as using a moisturiser. We launched Breast Cream in October 2014 during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, putting the product on the shelf in 80% of New Zealand’s leading grocery retailers. We supported the launch with PR and targeted influential beauty bloggers, along with promoting the product through NZBCF’s substantial owned online assets. A print campaign helped us reach a broader audience and gain international exposure. This is the beginning of a long-term behaviour change project. The partnerships we’ve developed give this idea the scale and means to expand internationally – partnering with breast cancer charities around the world.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

The target audience is all women over the age of 20, with a focus on 20-40 year olds, who fall outside of the mammogram screening programme. They’re an audience who are notoriously difficult to engage with breast cancer awareness messages, with an aversion to scaremongering and a tendency to think “it won’t happen to me.” Our brief was to find a way to engage these women and help them overcome the barriers to checking their breasts regularly.

Results

Of those who have used or are aware of Breast Cream: • 45% now check their breasts more regularly. • 32% have made Breast Cream part of their beauty routine, and • 31% said Breast Cream got them talking more about breast awareness. We secured distribution in 80% of NZ’s four biggest grocery retailers. The first production run has sold out, with $2 from every purchase going to the NZBCF. Breast Cream has been promoted and reviewed extensively by beauty bloggers and everyday users on beauty forums, scoring an average product rating of 4.9/5. This has helped us reach an extended audience of over 2.5 million in New Zealand and around the world. Breast Cream has also attracted international attention – distributors and Breast Cancer charities in North America, Canada, Europe, Middle East and Asia have expressed interest in bringing Breast Cream to their markets. So we have the potential to change behaviour and save lives across the globe.