Winner: Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide for the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
Campaign: Screening Saves Lives: Building Awareness. Engaging Communities.
Leveraging Partners.
The Mission:
Since 1999, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide has worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Division of Cancer Prevention and Control on the "Screen
for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign" (SFL). The initiative uses public service announcements (PSAs) as a conduit to reach its target audience of Americans over 50
years of age with the message that colorectal cancer screening can save lives. But, in 2005, the team wanted to elevate the campaign above a "crowded media environment."
The Hook:
Working with the Entertainment Industry Foundation, Ogilvy tapped CBS News anchor Katie Couric and Academy Award-winning actress Diane Keaton to be spokespersons for the PSAs.
Also recruited was Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman; his TV PSAs were developed to appeal especially to African-Americans, who are frequently diagnosed at later stages of
colorectal cancer. The team included Sarah Temple, Jennifer Chu and Emily Yu.
The Execution:
Ogilvy produced and released TV spots of various lengths featuring Keaton to more than 1,000 stations and networks in all 210 media markets. The Freeman spots, which were
originally launched in 2005, were re-released in 2006. Ogilvy also developed radio PSAs with Freeman, which were distributed to almost 2,000 radio stations in 2006.
Mission Accomplished:
Total PSA impressions in the 2006 broadcast campaign were up by over 65% from the previous campaign year. Since its August 2006 release, Keaton's PSA have resulted in over 43.6
million viewer impressions, while Freeman's TV PSAs were ranked #1 by Nielsen in March 2006, one year after they were launched. PRN