Bowel cancer revealed as Australia’s deadliest creature in new campaign via Ogilvy Health
Bowel Cancer Australia has today launches a compelling new campaign via Ogilvy Health, highlighting bowel cancer as a dangerous creature that strikes more than 1,700 Australians aged under 50 each year.
Australia’s Deadliest uses a unique approach for a cancer awareness campaign, leaning into the imagery and style of tabloid journalism to tell real and confronting stories about bowel cancer. Using alarming and descriptive news headlines, Australia’s Deadliest refers to bowel cancer as a deadly creature, citing individual encounters and revealing its gruesome impact.
Ogilvy Health group creative director Nina East said the agency worked closely with five early-onset bowel cancer patients whose lived experiences were integral throughout the development of the campaign: “Our challenge is people perceive bowel cancer as an ‘old man’s disease’. We needed to jolt them into reality, dispel this misconception, and help people understand bowel cancer can affect people at any age.
“Through authentic real experiences, we portrayed bowel cancer as a deadly creature striking Australians aged 25-44. We set out to make a confronting campaign that would make a difference. We needed something that would motivate people to be vigilant and look for symptoms. Thanks to the bravery of five phenomenal patients and an amazing client partnership, I think we’ve achieved that.”
Award-winning production house AIRBAG brought the campaign to life, injecting creativity and compassion under the expert leadership of director Eddy Bell, who says: “I’m incredibly grateful to have been part of this campaign, not only for the opportunity to tell the journeys of the amazing patients involved, but it also gave me a chance to start a dialogue around this disease with my own loved ones.”
Says Stephanie Bansemer-Brown, marketing and publicity manager, Bowel Cancer Australia: “Younger people are dying from a disease that is 99% treatable when caught early, yet bowel cancer awareness remains low. This campaign aims to change that. To cut through the noise and give early-onset bowel cancer a face that truly resonates with Australians.
“The incredible teams at Ogilvy Health and AIRBAG Productions were thoughtful, considered, and collaborative to ensure the authentic voice and reality of people living with early-onset bowel cancer was at the heart of the campaign. As a bowel cancer survivor, I am so proud of this campaign and the bravery of Nina, Jake, Rachel, Kin, and Anthony who feature in it, to highlight the impact of this disease on younger Australians.”
Australia’s Deadliest will be seen across a range of executions including TVCs, online films, OOH, digital media, social media, print and radio from this week.
Client: Bowel Cancer Australia
Julien Wiggins – CEO, Bowel Cancer Australia
Stephanie Bansemer-Brown – Marketing and Publicity Manager, Bowel Cancer Australia
Creative and strategy: Ogilvy Health Australia
Media: Assembled Media
Zac Chapman – Managing Director
Samantha Murphy – Client Manager
Production: AIRBAG
Director – Eddy Bell
Managing Partner – Adrian Bosich
Executive Producer – Martin Box
Executive Producer – Renae Begent
Senior Producer – Megan Ayers
Cinematographer – Jason White
VFX – AIRBAG
Post Producer – Nick Venn
VFX Supervisor – Rob Ride
Lead VFX Artist – Will Lovett
Compositor – Heidi Wentworth-Ping
Offline Editor – James Ashbolt (ARC Edit)
Motion Graphics – Gabriel Tick (Studio Union)
‘Let Go’ by Cash Savage and the Last Drinks
Music Publication c/o Gaga Music
Music Editing & Sound Design: Brendan Woithe & Declan Diacono (Klang Studios)
Sound Post Producer: Analese Cahill (Klang Studios)
6 Comments
Recently I attended the funeral of one of my oldest and closest friends.
Diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer. 3 months later he succumbed to this insidious disease.
4 years ago I attended the funeral of another of my oldest and closest friends who also dies
from bowel cancer.
Both were fit, didn’t smoke, carry any weight and always looked after themselves.
Both should still be with their us and their families.
But sadly they’re not.
I’m sure we’ve all lost someone who should still be with us.
So, please do the stool tests and if in doubt have a colonoscopy.
School test are 99% accurate, but not 100%.
We all die eventually.
Let’s make sure its from something we can’t prevent, rather than from something
that’s preventable and/or fixable.
This is great work
Gritty, raw, engaging.
To stop people from going into denial, you need to tell them that a colonoscopy BY ITSELF can remove pre-cancerous growths (polyps) and thereby stop them from turning into cancers. You need that info on every poster.
If you’re getting a colonoscopy, you’re not on a hiding to nothing. The procedure has an upside in and of itself: this mode of “screening” is not only screening, but also PREVENTION. Your video shows plenty of colonoscope images of polyps, but not a hint that they can be taken out during the procedure.
Having a colonoscopy every 2 years is the only way to be sure.Not having one could be dead wrong.
What Gavin and Andy said is correct. The only way to be sure that you don’t have bowel cancer is to have a colonoscopy. Early detection is important, and polyps can easily be removed during the procedure before they turn cancerous. I only wish I knew that before I was diagnosed with colon cancer.