Client: Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada
Business challenge:
Prostate Cancer Foundation BC was established in 1997 as a grassroots non-profit organization to help men diagnosed with prostate cancer. What started as a helpline, grew into an umbrella organization hosting fundraisers, providing emotional, mental, and practical prostate cancer support, and awarding research grants – all for better prevention, detection, and treatment of the disease. During the pandemic, the organization expanded its services across the country, and became Canada’s only national support organization dedicated to men and their families facing prostate cancer. It was time to make this evolved national mandate official, with a newly rebranded name, logo, and website, as the Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada. To support the rebrand, Edery & Lord was tasked with developing a strategic communications campaign that would announce and build awareness for the rebrand.
Solution:
The agency rolled out a strategic media relations campaign centered on an Omnibus
Edery & Lord implemented a targeted media relations campaign to generate awareness about the rebrand including findings from Omnibus research that uncovered psychological factors at play that prevent Canadian men over 40 from getting tested. To tap into Prostate Cancer Awareness Month stories, the Foundation’s annual “Light up in Blue” program was spotlighted to stimulate editorial and social dialogue. “Light up in Blue featured more than 120 Canadian landmark buildings ‘shining blue’ on select days throughout September. Further to inspire men to get tested, the agency identified one of Canada’s most respected anchors, Peter Mans bridge as a third-party spokesperson to lend his voice to this much-needed national prostate cancer conversation.
Results:
The media relations program delivered stellar results that exceeded all qualitative and quantitative objectives. The program resulted in 49 high quality media stories with an audience reach of over 3.6 million impressions and a MRP quality score of 97.96 per cent. Social media chatter about the “Light up the Blue” campaign on X reached nearly 600,000 impressions. Visits to the Foundation’s new website during the rebranding campaign period saw an incredible 109.51 per cent increase year-over-year. Visits to the support group page during the same one-month period experienced a huge never-before-seen spike of 5,075 per cent, reinforcing the call-to-action for this audience This proved unequivocally that the campaign reached the Foundation’s core to seek out peer support and information about testing.