The Cancer Institute of NSW, in partnership with creative agency 303 MullenLowe Sydney, is targeting the at-risk 18-24 demographic about the dangers of UV rays.
The ‘If you could see UV’ campaign visualises UV as ultra-violet arrows, creating a powerful point that if young people could see the scale and danger of UV descending on them from above, they’d protect their skin.
The campaign will run throughout both regional and metro NSW until March 2023, with the creative concept expected to be used on an ongoing basis.
303 MullenLowe executive creative director Bart Pawlak: “The general goal of the campaign reflected the longstanding mission of the Cancer Institute NSW to raise awareness among the broader community as to the danger of ultra-violet radiation, and consequently compel people to observe the five acknowledged sun safe behaviours – slip, slop, slap, seek and slide.
“The challenge, however, was twofold.
“First and perhaps most significant was the fact that UV is invisible and therefore not generally perceived by people as a threat. In fact, it’s human nature for things that are out of sight to remain out of mind. So, a more specific goal became portraying UV in a way that was tangible, and that effectively imbued it with the danger that it presents.
“Adding to the complexity of the brief was the age of our audience. The fact is, melanoma is one of the most common cancers among young Australians, and it’s this specific audience that our communication needed to both engage and convince.
“We immediately identified authenticity and emotional impact as two vital ingredients, if our communication was to successfully compete for their divided attention and overcome their characteristic ‘optimism bias’, and sense of immortality.”
Cancer Institute NSW’s head of marketing, Matt Clarke said: “What makes this campaign so powerful; it not only makes the seriousness of sun exposure more tangible to a young audience, but hopefully the preventative steps required are more memorable as they go about their daily lives.”
Pawlak says that authentic representation even in the most imaginative works is key: “In the endeavour of compelling a notoriously resistant audience to respect something they can’t see, our creative strategy essentially revolved around a powerful visual metaphor for ultra-violet radiation, in the form of sharp, incandescent arrows descending from the sky, much like UV radiation does – constantly and ubiquitously.
“With one powerful visual motif, we were able to make UV real in young people’s minds, as well as deliver the emotional punch needed to jolt them out of their current complacency.
“Of course, with any flight of the imagination, an uncompromising and authentic representation is key to a message being accepted. So, much of our creative approach centred around working with production partners who could bring our vision to life in a cinematic way that would be instantly engaging.
“Successfully standing up to the proliferation of high-quality content that our audience has access to these days. And, representing an effective communication vehicle for the specific life-saving behaviours we want young people to embrace.”
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