There’s a 95% chance of surviving breast cancer if it’s detected by a mammogram. But screening numbers have dropped since COVID.

The Breast Cancer Foundation needed an always on campaign to remind women to book their life-saving screening.

And return to and grow beyond pre-covid screening numbers.

The funny thing about breasts is, once they’re on your mind, you begin to see them everywhere. ‘Reminders are everywhere’ juxtaposes breast-like objects in everyday life with a headline suggesting that maybe it’s a sign to book your mammogram. Effectively turning every breast-shaped object in the world into an execution of our always-on reminder campaign.

BCFNZ’s primary target audience is all women who fall within the age of 45–69 as this is the age of eligibility for a free mammogram.

But breast cancer is a disease that affects many more people than the women who fall within this age range — children, partners, siblings, family, and friends, are all impacted beyond the individual when it comes to a positive diagnosis.

With a lean budget and a cluttered media environment making it tough to sustain our message and cut-through, our strategic approach was to hack the semiotics of pairings of round everyday objects to activate everyone from women that should be thinking about their breast health to their wider support network, to create an always on reminder everywhere in the real world to book — or encourage a close women in your life to book — a mammogram.

‘Reminders are everywhere’ is a simple, powerful, and light-hearted campaign to get breasts on everyone’s minds, deploying images of breast-like objects throughout the country via street posters, online film, cinema and static social posts, with a simple call to action, suggesting that maybe these objects might just be a sign that it’s time to book your mammogram. The campaign launched in December 2023 and is designed to run intermittently throughout the year, refreshing the mental connection between breast-alike objects and mammograms.

Compared to one year ago, we have generated a 42,045 incremental lift in total mammogram breast screens, and a 4.06% lift in breast screens among women eligible to get one. And the overall number is encouragingly tracking back up towards pre-covid numbers, already at 68%.

The campaign has also triggered people to start spotting and sharing their own breast-alikes and sharing them on social media, effectively extending our campaign even further, and giving people a light-hearted way to talk to their loved ones about a typically awkward subject.

Source: BreastScreen Aotearoa Coverage Report, Te Whatu Ora