The Lung Cancer Label
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and women in the United States. Though more die of lung cancer than colon and breast cancers combined, lung cancer receives less research dollars. Part of the problem is the stigma that this cancer carries, “you have to smoke to get lung cancer.” This is untrue, anyone can get lung cancer.
The challenge presented is a lack of understanding and awareness of lung cancer. I created a data and story-driven integrated digital marketing campaign to raise awareness about lung cancer, its stigma and the inequity in funding related to its mortality rate.
Design / UX/UI / Brand Strategy & Messaging
Key Messages
Research Dollars: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and women in the United States, however, lung cancer research is underfunded compared to other types of cancer. The fact is, anyone with lungs can get lung cancer and the smoking stigma slows progress in finding a cure.
Early detection: Most Americans believe that smoking is the reason that people get lung cancer. This is true, however, there are many causes of lung cancer beyond smoking such as radon, asbestos, and family history, to name a few. Everyone needs to be educated about lung cancer because anyone can get lung cancer.
Audience
Speaking to teenagers and young adults will help them to grasp the key message and carry the knowledge through the rest of their lives. There are initiatives like thetruth® and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids that inform young people about the dangers of smoking and vaping, but there are very little resources that seek to raise awareness that anyone can get lung cancer.
This campaign will shed light on the lung cancer health crisis in this young space. Americans, ages 15 to 30, will be the targeted audience. The digital communications avenue greatly increases accessibility of reaching this audience.
Campaign Direction
Common lung cancer campaigns are designed to spook people out of smoking. They are designed for a specific audience. The audience that the Lung Cancer Label will target may not even be smokers. These campaigns can be shaming and even perpetuate the smoking stigma in some instances.
In order to get the attention of the audience, the campaign needs to stand out, it needs to me bold, bright, beautiful and shareable.
Phase one of the campaign commenced Summer 2020. I printed my stickers to sell for $5 a piece and posted this to my personal IG page. I was able to raise more than $1,500 for A Breath of Hope, the Minnesota-local lung cancer foundation. Data shows that we have less than 2 seconds to grab attention and I believe that the eye-catching sticker graphics helped me surpass my fundraising goal.
This is a huge milestone personally and I am grateful for my education at MCAD that has helped me make a difference for lung cancer awareness. I am excited to continue this journey. Below are some photos of the 2019 ABOH 10K, featuring my dad, Tom Kurvers, who is the inspiration behind the Lung Cancer Label.
