October is the official Breast Cancer Awareness Month and, to raise awareness, Susan G. Komen hosted multiple Race for the Cure events across the nation. For their event in Austin, we developed a special-edition t-shirt with a powerful message that, instead of just saying it, made participants feel the importance of prevention.

Every charity race has one thing in common: t-shirts. Regardless of whether it’s a short 5K or a long marathon, participants can count on receiving and proudly wearing the event’s official t-shirt that day.

We made The Stitched Shirt work a little harder than the average race t-shirt, ensuring that participants took the time to remove the stitching from what may have been/could be a cancer-affected area and truly understand the importance of prevention.

To promote the initiative before the race, we used Susan G. Komen’s social channels, and the reach was instantaneous and right on target. A combination of Facebook posts, Twitter, Instagram and Vine videos helped to draw attraction to the t-shirt website, which subsequently allowed people to pre-order their Stitched t-shirt, and which at the same time promoted and communicated the idea.

At the race, the positive response was overwhelming. The Stitched Shirt onsite activation garnered the most engagement out of all sponsored areas, with a consistent line of participants asking for their own Stitched Shirt. The simplicity and cleverness of the design helped spread the message in an organic way. Blogs and publications all around the world showcased the idea, amplifying the initiative beyond those at the event.

By using existing social channels, the reach was instantaneous and right on target. A combination of Facebook posts, Twitter, Instagram and Vine videos helped to draw attraction to the t-shirt website, which subsequently allowed people to pre-order their Stitched t-shirt and was used at the same time to promote and communicate the idea.

On September 16th, the day of the race in Austin, TX, the positive response was overwhelming. The Stitched Shirt onsite activation garnered the most engagement out of all sponsored areas, with a consistent line of participants asking for their own Stitched Shirt. The simplicity and cleverness of the design helped spread the message in an organic way. Blogs and publications all around the world showcased the idea, amplifying the initiative beyond those at the event. Social media boasted hundreds of tweets using #StitchedShirt, thousands of people visited the website and viewed the YouTube video, and more than a thousand people wore the t-shirt the day of the event.