2022 Bronze Film, Video or Moving Image

Agency: M&C Saatchi

Client: NHS

Campaign Name: Jack-In-The-Box

Campaign Overview

Six in 10 people say a cancer diagnosis is their biggest health fear, but four in 10 say they would ignore symptoms. The NHS needs people to present earlier with symptoms that might be cancer, because finding it sooner makes it more treatable.

Strategy

As early intervention opens up the widest range of treatment options, and allows for better outcomes, the campaign needed to help people overcome their fear of coming forward.

Two powerful levers were identified. First, most people who go for tests, get the all-clear. A reassuring new piece of information, for the many who fear a positive diagnosis might be a foregone conclusion. Second, is that carrying the fear around is a problem in itself, and thousands of people are putting themselves through unnecessary mental torture over the unfounded possibility of cancer.

Proposition research and creative testing found that focusing on the fear of coming forward, rather than the fear of cancer, was a powerful way to lower the bar for action. People saw the potential for two ‘wins’: relieve themselves of mental worry, and be in the majority getting the all-clear.

Creativity

Previous NHS cancer campaigns focused on specific symptoms and encouraging people to come forth if they notice them. The strategy for this campaign presented a new creative opportunity: to address the fear of having noticed a symptom, rather than the detail of the symptom itself.

With that emotionally powerful starting point, the team set out to find a way to visualise the worry people carry with them, when they knowingly ignoring such a symptom. The jack-in-the-box was an unexpected visual metaphor. Like the body, the box is something you can't see inside, and like the mind, its handle can wind up the tension. The protagonist had his jack-in-the-box with him.

Creative testing revealed the sooner the word 'cancer' is spoken, the sooner the audience switches off; closing their ears to the word they don't want to hear. The construct of the film allowed tension to be built up without explanation.

To land the news that most people who go for tests find out its not cancer, the film closed with the protagonist visiting a clinician for her test results. She opens the box to resolve the pent-up tension, only to reveal it has been empty all along.

Results

The key campaign metric was encouraging people with symptoms to come forward. Independent post-campaign analysis by Kantar Public showed the number of people who would not come forward due to fear of finding out they have was cancer had reduced.

The Team

M&C Saatchi - Ben Golik, Chief Creative Officer - Tom Kennedy, Creative Director - Angus Maclay, Business Director - Katherine Venable, Senior Account Manager - Ella Halewood, Senior Account Manager - Richard Storey, Strategy Director - Hannah Thomson, Strategist - Nathan Bunting, Designer - Louis Cubbon, Project Director - Angela Zabala, Film Producer

Contributors

Mad Cow Films