Endometriosis Australia launches first-ever national television campaign via HAVAS Red

Endometriosis Australia is launching its first television commercial on July 15th, raising awareness about period pain and endometriosis. The ‘Take Your Life Off Hold’ TVC developed by integrated communications agency HAVAS Red, is designed to highlight debilitating period pain that puts women’s lives on hold is ‘not normal’, and these symptoms could be endometriosis.

The TVC will run on Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) regional stations across the nation and is part of SCA’s Embrace two-year partnership with Endometriosis Australia.

The campaign confronts society’s tendency to trivialise period pain and the frustration it causes. It empowers women to take their pain seriously, to seek help, and regain control of their lives.

Says Monica Forlano, chair of Endometriosis Australia: “We are delighted to launch the first awareness campaign on broadcast television for this disease in this country. There is still an average six-and-a-half-year delay between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis of endometriosis in Australia, and this delay is often longer for those living in regional communities. As someone who has experienced the devastating symptoms for over 19 years before finally getting an endometriosis diagnosis, the ‘Take Your Life Off Hold’ campaign is close to my heart.

“We hope this TVC will increase awareness of endometriosis across regional Australia, empower patients to advocate for their health needs, learn more, and contribute to Endometriosis Australia’s mission of making endometriosis widely recognised, promptly diagnosed, and effectively treated.”

What makes this TVC even more unique is it features Isabelle Nader, who was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2022 after enduring years of excruciating period pain.

Says Nader: “Being part of this TVC proved to me that we are all on this journey together. It means that I’m not alone in my suffering and that we are breaking down a barrier of taboo by talking about endometriosis and period pain. Finally, it affirms I should be taken seriously when I say, ‘I cannot move because of my period.’”

The upcoming TVC will follow the recent out-of-home (OOH) advertising campaign – “It’s not just period pain, it could be endometriosis’ – donated by Ryval Media and playing on SCA radio since March of this year. The traffic to Endometriosis Australia’s website has doubled in the four months since this campaign launched.

Says John Kelly, chief executive officer, Southern Cross Austereo: “We are delighted to announce the next step in our partnership with Endometriosis Australia through the SCA Embrace program, with the extension of our Community Service Announcements to television. The new TVC will air across SCA’s 34 Regional TV channels, in conjunction with our new radio campaign spanning both Metro and Regional Stations & LiSTNR with the potential to reach more than 95% of the Australian population.”

Says Bianca Falloon, general manager, Ryval Media: “We are proud to have supported Endometriosis Australia to drive awareness, advocacy and educate Australians through Endometriosis Awareness month in March and beyond. Through strategic placements in high traffic areas and compelling real-life visuals and messaging, we want to continue to amplify this important message for those impacted by endometriosis and for those who want to learn more.”

Says Nicole Phillips, managing partner, health and wellness at HAVAS Red: “As a Village we thrive working on meaningful projects that have a personal impact to our team and the broader community. Back in 2017 we first supported Endometriosis awareness through a PR and government relations campaign that generated historic funding for research into the disease and a commitment to develop the first national plan to tackle it.

“We reconnected with Endometriosis Australia last year, our Host HAVAS team refreshed Endometriosis Australia’s logo and brand style guidelines. Our activation and production team at HAVAS Blvd produced the upcoming TVC campaign from creative ideation to postproduction. HAVAS Red continues to support the organisation with a drumbeat of earned media, heroing the stories of women living with endometriosis and the important work Endometriosis Australia is doing in research and community awareness.”

Says Tracey Iskander, managing director at Marquee: “We are delighted we can aid a small organisation such as Endometriosis Australia with the delivery of the campaign assets through our intuitive traffic management system.”

Adds Forlano: “As a small charity organisation, we would like to thank our partners who have allowed us to share the important message to Australia and to the estimated 1 in 7 girls, women and those presumed female at birth, who live or will be diagnosed with endometriosis in their life.”

Board Chair and Executive Producer – Monica Forlano
PR and Creative agency: HAVAS Red
Production Company – HAVAS BVLD
Managing Partner Health: Nicole Phillips
Senior Account Director/Producer/Art Director- Rachel Leech
Creative Lead – Tom Manning
DOP – Callum Leaky
1st AC – Brian Baker
Assistant Producer – Mimi Sillar
Sound – Tom Cutting
Hair & Makeup – Yolanda Lukowski
Photography – Hettie Headford
Postproduction:
Editor – Beau Simmons
Colour grade – Marcus Timpson
Sound Engineer
Design: MassiveMusic