SANDCASTLE CEMETERIES

TitleSANDCASTLE CEMETERIES
BrandQIMR BERGHOFER
Product / ServiceMELANOMA AWARENESS
CategoryD04. Spatial Brand Installation & Experience
EntrantY&R ANZ Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation Y&R ANZ Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
PR QIMR Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
Production Y&R ANZ Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
Production 2 TAXI FILM PRODUCTION Brisbane, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Paul Nagy Y&R ANZ Chief Creative Officer
Brendan Greaney Y&R Brisbane Executive Creative Director
Andrew Thompson Y&R Brisbane Executive Creative Director
Miguel Gadea Y&R Brisbane Art Director
Richard Mitchell Y&R Brisbane Business Director
Fiona Caird Y&R Brisbane General Manager
Michelle Short Y&R Brisbane Production Director
Joshua Bartlett Y&R Brisbane Content Director
Griffin Englander Y&R Brisbane Editor
Mark Bishop Taxi Film Senior Producer
Susan Chenoweth QIMR Berghofer Head of Philanthropy and Fundraising

The Campaign

We created headstones made from sand across multiple Queensland beaches. These Sandcastle cemeteries were a powerful reminder of the dangers of melanoma and the importance of being sun-safe. Certain headstones were personalized with the details of someone who had lost their life to melanoma, while other headstones reminded people of the fact that 1905 Australians would lose their life to melanoma this year. As part of the activations, support crews were on hand to encourage people to download the Melanoma Predictor Tool, developed by our client the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.

Creative Execution

We secured the services of a leading Australian sand sculptor to bring this project to life. Using real beach sand and intricate designs, we created over 50 bespoke headstones for each activation. We added personal touches to add a human element to the graveyards. One headstone recognized a father of four who tragically died from melanoma. Baseball was his passion so we included a sand-sculpted mitt and bat as part of the tribute. We housed it with a white picket fence after hearing the poignant words of his wife who said that because of his passing, they never got to live “their perfect life with the white picket fence.” The creation of the Sandcastle Cemeteries drew considerable attention across local beaches. We timed the event so people could view the building phase, and then left the final build up for people to wander through and take in the message.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The Sandcastle Cemeteries activations garnered widespread media and PR coverage, appearing on all free-to-air news channels and filling social media. We achieved an estimated earned media value of over 2 million dollars. The other main role of the activation was to encourage people to download and try the Melanoma Predictor Tool. Over 175,000 people did just that with a further 258,000 visits to the site to find out more. We also secured over 100,000 email addresses from people wanting to find out more. The ultimate result of all of course will be helping to save even just one more life from Melanoma.