Throat cancer campaign wins award

The NHS is always looking for new ways to tackle behavioural change amongst patients so when eskimosoup were asked to deliver a campaign aimed at catching treatable stages of throat cancer we knew we had to be innovative. 

So striking and effective was the campaign (our role was one of several key partners delivering the work) that it has just won a national award for its ability to increase awareness of the signs of Laryngeal cancer and encourage those with symptoms to seek medical advice. 

The ‘Throat wrecked? Get it checked’ message and its striking visuals was a powerful way to communicate the message that a croaky or changing voice for three weeks or more could be a symptom of a life-threatening tumour. The campaign was commissioned by the North East Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Alliance (NEYHCA), and targeted wards with the highest incidence of throat cancer and in particular targeted men aged over 50 and their key influencers through a range of media and techniques to catch the attention of a hard-to-reach target audience. 

Launch events at a number of local football stadiums as part of pre-match entertainment was an ideal way to directly speak to the age group and gender concerned as well as raising general awareness. Hard-hitting and memorable posters displaying large images of a toad’s mouth onto a human face as well as radio advertising, social media marketing, leaflet distribution and a dedicated website were also used to spread the message and achieve behaviour change. 

Winning first prize for the Consumer and Partnership award at the National Cancer Intelligence Network Conference saw the campaign beating more than 100 other entries. More importantly the campaign worked and evaluation shows that the right people have as a result of the campaign visited their GP and become more proactive when it comes to looking after their own health or that of their family and friends.