I blogged  a couple months ago about the “pink glove dance” — the so-cute breast cancer awareness video starring dancing hospital employees of all kinds– that every healthcare marketer watched with envy (except its creators at Providence St. Vincent) as it spiraled to over 6 million YouTube views.  A marketing phenomenon of viral proportions.  Followed by the next marketing phenomenon: Colleagues saying, “We should do something like the pink glove dance!” Problem is while you can try to “go viral”, you can’t plan or guarantee viral.  Take for instance, this wannabe from another hospital.
  
I give them credit for trying, but it just doesn’t have that pink glove viral quality. What do you think?

Just when you thought you’d seen it all for breast health awareness, here’s a video that takes a different twist and is sure to make you smile. Or maybe dance in your seat. It’s employee engagement at its finest. Social media to the max - with close to 600,000 YouTube views. Talk about the power of brand ambassadors! Kudos to Providence  St. Vincent Medical Center for this piece of refreshing, innovative healthcare marketing.

So tell me… did it get you rockin’ or smilin’?

Awhile back, I wrote a blog post about cause marketing which sparked a bit of discussion.  I’m a pretty big fan of cause marketing from both a consumer point-of-view and a marketer point-of-view.  I understand that some organizations may be capitalizing on a cause for a few extra bucks but I have to believe most have only good intentions. 

I think about cause marketing a lot particularly during the month of October also known as Pinktober.  It’s hard not to notice especially as a breast cancer survivor.  This morning, I was out running a few errands, and I went to 4 places. I was pretty much blown away with what I saw, and I kept kicking myself for leaving my camera at home.  My first stop was Target where I resisted buying most of the pink products but could not pass up the Multi-Grain Cheerios with the big Komen logo on the front.  Congratulations General Mills, it’s been at least 5 years since I purchased this product and you caught my attention. 

My next stop was Beauty First and had I needed a new flat iron, I would have been all over the pink one also benefiting breast cancer.  After that, I went to Panera where it took a lot to pass up the pink bagel (I’ve tried them before and they are delicious btw) but I opted for a bowl of soup instead.  And my last stop was Caribou for my after lunch coffee.  They’ve named a whole program for Amy, a Barista, who lost her battle at age 33.  So yes, during October, it’s hard to go anywhere without being surrounded in pink and I’ll happily support those that support breast cancer.  They’ve made a connection to me whether their donation is big or small, whether it funds mammograms, research, treatment or anything in between. 

I love my collection of pink products and I love knowing that I supported my favorite cause.  Found any cool pink products that you couldn’t live without?  Post a comment and share them with me.

Working on breast cancer awareness lately has kept my attention on, well, you can imagine, certain anatomical attributes of people on the street. My creative team was questioning ourselves if we were getting too daring in our messaging. Enter the following story on some breast cancer TV spots on the morning show Good Morning America.

They ask if the creators of these spots have gone too far or if people respond to more intense messaging. What do you think? I think people are desensitized by much of the boring ads out there, so creative people need to continually reinvent ways to break through. I’m encouraged to stay daring. We’ll see how our client reacts to our concepts and if they agree with us.

In a recent blog post, Laurie Hix explained quite clearly the difference between social media, social marketing and cause marketing.  She’s covered some great social marketing examples and our sister company, Ignite Social Media, has lots of examples of great social media marketing.  But we haven’t talked too much about cause marketing. 

This past weekend, I walked the Michigan Breast Cancer 3-Day.  That’s right 60 miles over the course of 3 days and yes it was pushing 90 degrees on Saturday and Sunday.  Since I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I always support companies that support breast cancer.  I think most people touched by this disease feel the same way.  BTW, I don’t limit my support to breast cancer.  If a company is donating to any charity that’s important to me, I feel they deserve my business. 

As I was walking, I thought about the impact of the recession on charities. (I had lots of time to think about all kinds of things.)  The Michigan Breast Cancer 3-Day raised 4.7 million dollars this year.  Seems like a lot but it’s under 70% of what was raised last year.  They have some great national and some local sponsors too like Superior Ambulance–the 3-Day wouldn’t be the same without them.   

But overall, what’s happening in the cause marketing world and what does the future hold?  Are companies pulling their support in tough economic times and is this a smart marketing move?  I decided to do a bit more research on this topic and found an interesting blog post about the Power of Cause Marketing.  I’m happy to see that consumers feel very strongly about corporate participation with charities.  But I hope the companies continue to see the value.  What if they don’t see an immediate lift in sales? Is brand recognition and brand preference equally as importat today as it once was?  These are tough questions.  I’m quick to buy anything with a pink ribbon but do the masses feel the same way when money is tight?   How can non profits help show for profits the value gained by their relationship?  Post a comment and share your thoughts with me. 

I love finding brilliant advertising creative that makes me wish I thought of it. And I especially love it, when it’s for a client that’s trying to make the world a better place. That’s what social marketing is all about. And because it’s only “sell” is to try to get us to change our behaviors or attitudes about something, it can be powerful when done well.

In this blog series, I will write about 21 creative social marketing campaigns I admire. If you have any favorite campaigns to add to this list, leave me a comment and link, and I will check it out.

1. Above the Influence
2. Amnesty International
3. American Stroke Association
4. Boys and Girls Club
5. Children’s and Adolescents Reference Center
6. the truth
7. Covenant House
8. Invent Now
9. Land Transport New Zealand
10. Looking Glass Foundation
11. My Sister’s Place
12. Nike Foundation
13. Parkinson’s Society Canada
14. Partnership for a Drug-free America
15. obesity prevention
16. stop land mines
17. thinkb4yourspeak
18. Michigan Department of Community Health
19. World Wildlife Fund
20. United Nations Campaign
21. United Way

If you would like to check out 26 social media examples in detail check out Lisa Braziel’s blog at our sister company Ignite Social Media.

If you’re not sure what’s the difference between social marketing and social media, check out my post on that subject.

It’s only fitting that I start my social media nonprofit blog series with the Breast Cancer 3-Day–an organization that is very close to my heart.  I’m a 3-Day walker and extremely passionate about raising money for Breast Cancer.  I spend a lot of time posting on my personal breast cancer blog about my efforts to raise money and my excitement about the big event.  The Breast Cancer 3-Day made a slam dunk when they contacted me and asked me if I would be an online ambassador.  I happily agreed, accepted my badge with honor and posted a blog about my fundraising efforts right away.  Within hours, my blog traffic shot up and I found they had linked to my blog on their Facebook page.  This inspired me to continue writing creating a win-win scenario.

Facebook fundraising application

The Breast Cancer 3-Day just recently launched a brand new application–I think it’s great.  It works really well and posts in my news feed whenever I get a donation giving my friends updates on my fundraising progress.  Just yesterday I got a donation from a Facebook friend who I’m sure saw the post in her news feed.  Great addition to their social media work. Would love to see if they can link the news feed message directly back to my fundraising page.

Social Networks

The Breast Cancer 3-Day has lots of places for discussion and interaction between walkers, crew and staff.  The 3-Day message boards are very active with posts on everything from personal stories, fundraising, training and what to pack.  There are lots of similar discussions on the Facebook fan page which has over 20,000 fans.  The benefit of the Fan page is the ability to post links to blogs, articles, videos and news stories and they do a great job of that.  There are also lots of active discussions on this page.  There’s a small group on LinkedIn which doesn’t seem overly active with a little over 300 members.

Twitter

The 3-Day Twitter page has close to 3,000 followers with lots of ongoing discussion, links to blogs, retweets and announcements about upcoming events.

YouTube and Flikr

I was glad to see so many videos on the YouTube channel and photos on the Flikr site.  Both provide lots of visuals to really show the experience.  Nothing beats being there, but I have to imagine the videos and photos inspire future walkers and donors.

Final Thoughts

All in all, the Breast Cancer 3-Day is doing a great job facilitating conversations and generating excitement about the events through their supporters.  As the 2009 walks approach, I’m curious to see what 2010 brings and how they will continue to inspire their ambassadors and supporters.  Would love to hear what you think about their efforts.  Post a comment and share your thoughts.

Last week, I spoke at the Social Media Breakfast in Toledo on social media and nonprofits.  I was particularly excited about this topic because it was the nonprofit world that launched me from traditional advertising into the fun and constantly changing world of social media.  I loved doing research for this talk and seeing how all sorts of nonprofits are engaging with their communities in the social sphere.  Many have made decent entries into the world and some are making baby steps.  Over the next few months, I’ll share what these nonprofits are doing in my social media and nonprofit blog series.

Here’s a short clip from my talk followed by a list of the first 10 nonprofits I will highlight.

Breast Cancer 3-Day

American Cancer Society

United States Humane Society

Susan G. Komen

American Red Cross

Ad Council

Pickens Plan

Greenhour

Nothing but Nets

Autism Speaks

Got any thoughts about others you would like to see, leave me a comment and I’ll check them out.

As a breast cancer survivor, I spend quite a bit of time digging through the web on the latest and greatest breast cancer articles.  I’m always looking for new tests, treatments, research studies and whatever else is out there.   As I was doing some searching, I found some really clever non-traditional breast cancer advertising.

Take a look at some of my favorites.

These sticker placed strategically on fruit in India asked women if they check their breasts as carefully.  Plays on the amount of time people spend making sure they purchase the perfect fruit.  Source: Ads of the World

Reminds people that anyone can get breast cancer

Breast Cancer Mannequin combined with stickers in fitting rooms in a lingerie and swimwear boutique in Dubai

You don’t always see breast cancer and breast cancer doesn’t always show up on a mammogram.  If you can feel something, get it checked.

Stress balls in Portugal

What do you think?  Like them? Think their effective? Offensive? Or make you think?

When I started my personal journey with breast cancer, I knew I had to do something to help other people someday.  It wasn’t clear to me how I would help but I would figure that out in time.  I was blissfully unaware that breast cancer could touch me at that—or frankly—any point in my life.  I had briefly heard about a breast cancer gene but I had no cause or reason to dig deeper.  Up to this point, every one of my close female relatives had thankfully avoided the big “c”.

My thoughts quickly shifted to marketing—after all it’s what I’ve spent the past 15 years doing every day.  How I could I personally use marketing to bring awareness to the breast cancer gene (BRCA)?  As the Account Director for the Michigan Department of Community Health for the past 13 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work on many great social marketing programs including breast cancer advertising.  I know our work has continuously impacted and likely saved lives—we’ve seen results in decreased smoking rates, increased immunization rates, increased awareness in risks of cardiovascular disease among others.   I’ve seen the power of social marketing first hand.  And I know the difference it can make and the awareness it can generate.  I had no idea how profoundly social marketing and advertising would impact my life.  But I found my lump as a result of our award-winning breast cancer television spot for St. John Health.  And I’m certain that television spot saved my life.

But what about the breast cancer gene and the risk it poses to so many women?  If I had no idea I was at risk then certainly there were so many others out there in my position.  That’s why my involvement with FORCE is so critical.

I was deeply energized and excited when I saw the Detroit Jewish News yesterday and the awareness of BRCA right smack on the cover.  I couldn’t ask for more.  I am so happy that a Previvor (a person at high risk who’s chosen surgery to avoid cancer) was willing to share her story.  And the story worked well with my story (on the inside) as the person with the same risk factors that did not have enough awareness to avoid a cancer journey.I know that my personal blog, my speaking engagements and my open door policy have helped to increase awareness.  But there is nothing like mass media—through advertising, social marketing, PR or a social media program to really drive awareness of  risk factors we all face.

Do you have any personal stories of how social marketing or advertising has impacted your life?  Would love to hear them.

Many years ago, we created these ads for the Michigan Department of Community Health.  The ads were focused on women 40 and over and they were great.  We ran them for many years, turned them into posters and got great results.  In general, breast cancer awareness advertising was focused on women 40+.  This age group has the highest diagnosis of breast cancer so certainly from a targeting stand point, it made sense.

One month ago Deborah Wasserman Schultz introduce the EARLY Act.  The bill calls for $9 million dollars a year from 2010 to 2014 aimed at breast cancer education for women under 40 and physicians.  Each year over 10,000 women under 40 are diagnosed with breast cancer–many don’t realize they are at risk and therefore their cancers tend to be caught at a later stage.  In addition, breast cancer in younger women tends to be more aggressive.  1,000 of these women will die making breast cancer the leading cause of cancer death in women under 40.

I thank Deborah Wasserman Schultz, a fellow survivor, for bringing this to the table.  Pretty soon we may be seeing some new faces in breast cancer awareness advertising and my hope is that the faces will look more like these.

This is me–diagnosed at age 36

My friend Melissa–diagnosed at age 36

My friend Pam–diagnosed at age 34

Working in the advertising industry has its rewards in that you get paid for what you love doing and you get recognized, with awards, for work that is above average.

Recently I experienced a different level of reward when I was visiting one of our favorite client’s retail stores – a HoneyBaked Ham store – to pick up my Easter Ham. While picking out the ham that I wanted to purchase I noticed that the store was very busy with customers, so I asked my friendly HoneyBaked saleswoman how sales were going. While asking the question I noticed that all the salespeople were wearing shirts that I designed; Pink or Teal T-shirts that had a Breast/Ovarian Cancer ribbon printed on the front along with the words, “Every Half Ham purchase helps fight Breast & Ovarian Cancer”. This is a partnership that HoneyBaked is doing with FORCE. Upon asking my question the woman got a huge smile on her face and said, “we’re very busy and I feel very fortunate to be part of a company that is involved with such a wonderful cause.” Then my real reward came. She said she couldn’t tell me how many cancer survivors acknowledged her because of her shirt and that she felt so good upon hearing from these survivors that it gave her goose bumps. Then she held out her arm and showed me the goose bumps she got just from telling me about this.

I’ve been in the ad business for over 20 years and I’m pretty sure there’s no trophy or award for making people get goose bumps — but it is a reward that we at Brogan & Partners graciously accept.