Excellence in Social Media Strategy

Summary of work

To combat rising rates of melanoma skin cancer, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) aimed to change the tanning attitudes and behaviours of the younger generation (16-24-year olds) by inspiring them to embrace their natural skin tone. With 76% of 16-24s accessing social media daily, CRUK entered a strategic partnership with The LADbible Group, a large youth-focused social publisher, to reach young people with ‘OwnYourTone’ messaging in a relevant and exciting way. Multiple videos were posted across LADbible and Pretty52’s Instagram and Facebook platforms throughout the summer, achieving over 21.3m impressions, and 12.7m views. Quantitative surveys showed strong campaign recall (32%) and significant improvements in the adoption of sun-safe behaviours including spending time in the shade (+10%p) and wearing SPF 15+ sunscreen (+9%p). There was also an attitudinal shift, with 67% of 16-24s saying ‘it is important to feel comfortable in your own skin’ following the campaign (vs 61% pre-campaign). The partnership gave CRUK the opportunity to create disruptive content that spoke to 16-24s in a relevant tone and from platforms they’re already following. In 2019, CRUK will continue to build the partnership and hopes to further shift tanning attitudes and behaviours.

Judges' comments

CRUK’s behaviour change campaign is extremely strong, with clear metrics and measures of success. This represents one of the first times that a big charity has tried to go into patient influencing. The campaign was creative and used influencer content well with good outcomes.