Title	PLAY IN THE SHADE
Brand	THE SWEDISH CANCER SOCIETY
Product/Service	CANCER PREVENTION
Category	A06. EVENTS & EXPERIENTIAL (INCL. STUNTS)
Entrant Company	VOLONTAIRE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Advertising Agency	VOLONTAIRE Stockholm, SWEDEN

The Campaign

Melanoma has doubled in Sweden over the last 10 years, in doubt of numerous information campaigns. In a country where less than four hours of daylight a day is normal, conveying a message that tells people to avoid the long-lost sun when it’s finally out is somewhat tricky. It was also the task at hand – to inform Swedes that the best way to avoid Melanoma is to stay out of the sun between 11am-3pm. To achieve anything with such a tough challenge, we had to create a positive idea, in line with popular culture, that creates curiosity and invites to participation. The campaign was launched the day of the premiere of the World Cup in Brazil. The idea was called Play in the Shade, the world’s first Shadow Soccer Field – a shaded soccer field to be placed in any park. The lines are created by sunlight, making it visible only when the sunlight is harmful. This made it an instant topic of conversation, fuelled by the world’s biggest show in Brazil. In total, more than 6 million people across 21 countries and over 100 editorial pieces were reached. The campaign budget was €50,000, gathering an aggregated PR value of €1,2 million euros. But most important, decision makers from cancer prevention institutions from all over the world have contacted the Swedish Cancer Society, asking how Play in the Shade can be implemented in their country. Right now, plans for realizing these wishes are in the making.

The Brief

The overarching goal was to make Sweden’s population realize that the best way to avoid Melanoma is to stay in the shade between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. This was then collapsed to quantifiable parameters. In the own channels, an increased interaction rate was the most important success factor. The goal was to outperform the regular communication three times (500 likes and 60 shares per Facebook post, 12 interactions per Tweet). In editorial space, the goal was to get 12 or more press clippings. In monetary terms, the goal was a PR value that equals the project budget, or €50,000.

Results

The earned media was very positive. All editorial coverage conveyed our key message; staying out of the sun between 11 am-3 pm. A large portion of the editorials also added to our initial messaging, speculating what would be the next step of campaign. Compared to the original objectives the following results were noted: 1. Own channels Facebook: 1966 likes (96% compared to our goal) and 548 shares (548% compared to our goal). Twitter: 63 interactions (263% compared to our goal). 2. Editorial 101 mentions (878% compared to our goal) with a noted exclusive feature in the 7 o’clock news on Swedens second largest news channel (700 000+ viewers). 3. PR-value The campaign reached 6 million people globally and attained an estimated PR-value of 1.3 million Euro (24 times better than our goal). But most importantly, similar organizations from all over the world have asked the Swedish Cancer Society on how to bring the concept to their region. A task that is now in the planning stages for 2015.

Execution

We invested almost the entire budget in research and development. This resulted in the world’s first shaded soccer court to be placed in any park. The lines are created by sunlight, making it visible only when the sunlight is harmful. But it also had to be cost-efficient, durable and lightweight, making it eligible to reproduce anywhere in the world where people suffer from Melanoma. The idea was documented by an up-coming, boutique film production company, scored by critically acclaimed Swedish musician Albin Gromer, who took a personal interest in this important issue. Timing wise, the whole campaign was set to debut simultaneously as the World Cup in Brazil, which proved important when releasing the idea to international media, thus making a small Swedish sun safety campaign relevant to popular culture (soccer) on a global level.

The Situation

In Sweden, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, Melanoma, has doubled over the last ten years. Simultaneously, Sweden has a cold and dark climate, making us crave being in the sun as much as possible. These conditions are one probable explanation to why ambitious prevention campaigns have failed in the past. Another is the fact that they have all used a relative harsh, fact-based and fear-driven rhetoric, which can end up surpassing human cognition, according to recent research.

The Strategy

To break a tradition of using shock messaging, great effort was put into creating something that would convey the same information, but through a positive experience. This was not only important for the organization, but also to avoid the archetypical tendency to discard (or even not register) any message that goes against the person’s existing conception (to avoid cognitive dissonance). In this case, the ability to finally get out in the sun. Since the fight against skin cancer does not end when the campaign is over, significant effort was put into making the project as durable as possible. The strategy was to create a physical installation in Stockholm, serving as living proof that Swedish decision makers and/or their children could try out for themselves (or let their children).