In 1990, Congress passed the Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Act to educate women about breast and cervical cancer screenings, but it took five years before that decision filtered down to every state in the country and became more than good intent.
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Cronin and Co. Founded: 1947 Agency Billings: $28 million Number of Employees: 49 Some Major Clients: Connecticut Lottery, Northeast Utilities, Phoenix Home Life Mututal Insurance Co., Springfield Institution for Savings |
And for some states, that move has had more impact than politicians probably intended. In Connecticut, the act has been given a dose of adrenaline through the guidance of 50-year-old advertising and PR house, Cronin and Co. Inc., and the drive of dozens of coordinators, volunteer advocates, screeners and outreach educators affiliated with the Connecticut Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
In a profession that loves to tout numbers (impressions, clips) and rests much of the measure of success on these kinds of voluminous PR quantifiers, part of the success of this program is linked to a very scant statistic: in the past two years, the program has uncovered 41 cases of cervical or breast cancer.
These are women who most certainly would have died had the disease gone undetected. (Via providers as well as satellite sites, women who are diagnosed with cancer receive treatment despite their economic status, and payment plans are set up.)
Of the 2,155 women who called the program's 800 number, 74 percent qualified for assistance.
Making the Program Stand Out
In reality, the country has been swamped with news and programs about cancer, and the PR that surrounds these kinds of educational campaigns has the potential to become dangerously dry or tinged with too much bureaucratic flavor. Likewise, laws don't always provide the tools that are needed to carry out these edicts on the grassroots level - the theaters of public domain where they really matter.
Knowing that, Christine Parker, project director for the Connecticut Department of Public Health's (CDPH) breast and cervical cancer early detection program, sought additional state funding to allow the agency to seek outside help to promote the program. (Federal funds weren't supposed to be expended on media costs.)
Based on testimony provided by advocates and coalition members, the department secured about $500,000 for an integrated marketing communications program now headed by Cronin to reach a potentially cloistered segment of society: low-income women. (1997 federal funds equalled about $1.5 million. The state allocated about $1.9 million, of which the $500,000 is part.)
When You're Not Speaking to the Masses
The program is aimed at women who are 40 or older (for mammograms) and 19 or older (for Pap smears) who have a yearly household gross income less than or equal to $15,780; have no health insurance; or have health insurance that excludes these services.
"We talked to providers to find out what the barrier [to getting screenings] was and through our research we learned it was motivation," says Liz Vogt, a senior VP at Cronin. "We had to make them realize how important they were to their families and to do that, we asked, 'What would your families do without you?' and we were able to make that strong emotional connection."
In fact, one outreach educator in New Haven, Conn., goes to the phone company (many low-income women pay their bills there) to speak with her target audience in the lobby or outside.
The Family of Tactics
It is impossible for Cronin to credit one aspect of the campaign as fueling the success of the program, which generated more than 5 million impressions and landed the firm some tough-to-attain publicity, including an Oct. 30, 1997, article in Business Day of The New York Times.
However, it's possible (based on info. provided by Vogt and Patti Stern, senior VP, director of PR) to single out some of the program's most notable components:
Cronin crafted an 8-foot pink ribbon display - built by the 16 screening providers and women who pledged support of the program - that was unveiled at a kick-off event. A press conference announcing the program was held at the state legislative office building, with officials and cancer survivors attending;
Ford Motor Co., which sponsored a "Murphy Brown" episode about Brown undergoing a lumpectomy, ran commercials developed by Cronin as PSAs;
Outreach educators provide the one-on-one that's needed to make programs like these work. They drop in at stores, churches and other places women in the target demographic group visit; and
DPH has partnered with other organizations, such as the America Cancer Society and similar peer groups, to strike a "unified" PR chord, and it's seeking to work with Medicaid in the future. (DPH, 860/509-7792; Cronin, 860/659-0514)
Provider Partners with DPH
Bridgeport: Planned Parenthood
Danbury: Danbury Hospital
Hartford: Hartford Hospital, Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center
Meriden: Veteran's Memorial Medical Center
New Britain: New Britain General Hospital
New Haven: Hospital of Saint Raphael, Yale-New Haven Hospital
New London: Lawrence and Memorial Hospital
Norwalk: Norwalk Hospital
Norwich: William W. Backus Hospital
Sharon: Sharon Hospital
Shelton: Planned Parenthood
Torrington: Charlotte Hungerford Hospital
Waterbury: St. Mary's Hospital
Willimantic: Windham Community Memorial Hospital