Finalist
Breaking through ASCO
Summary of work
Bowel cancer that spreads to the liver is one of the biggest cancer killers in the UK and solutions are needed that can improve outcomes for patients.
SIR-Spheres microspheres is a radiotherapy procedure that extends life in patients with liver tumours that have spread there from the bowel. In 2015 awareness of the treatment was low, and yet with new data to be presented at ASCO, the world’s largest cancer congress, showing extended survival benefits when used in combination with chemotherapy, there was an opportunity to raise its profile.
The agency was posed with a David and Goliath challenge at ASCO, where the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies would be vying for the same media attention with ‘breakthrough immunological’ ‘cancer cure’ stories versus a little known treatment that had been on the market for 10 years.
Through flawless planning, the agency timed its announcement for maximum effect and brought the story to life using consumer language, engaging patient stories, time-lapse 3D animations and data visualisation.
The result? SIR-Spheres was the most covered story out of ASCO on the Sunday, and dominated health news, reaching over 62 million people in the UK and driving a 155% increase in hits to the patient website.
Judges’ comments
We all agreed that it is never easy to get media coverage at ASCO - so it was remarkable to see the very impressive media results that this campaign delivered. Well done 90TEN, Denovo and Sirtex.
