Dear 16 Year-Old Me

How we'd explain it to our mothers

The David Cornfield Melanoma Fund (DCMF) is a charity saving lives from melanoma by promoting awareness of this common and potentially fatal skin cancer. The risk of developing melanoma is greatly reduced by avoiding exposure to UV radiation. Sufferers’ chances of survival are vastly improved by early detection but many people still don't understand the dangers. DCMF came to us with the express mission of spreading the word to as many Canadians as possible, particularly the young, as melanoma is the second most common cancer in children and teens.

Behaviour change

Get people to check. The ultimate goal of the Fund is to reduce the number of cases of melanoma, full stop. Knowing how important self-examination and preventative measures are to early detection and a positive outcome, we aimed to inspire people to make a self-check part of their regular routine.

The path to change

An online campaign, “Dear 16-year-old Me.”

How we did it

At the centre of the “Dear 16-year-old Me” campaign was a 5-minute film hosted on a branded YouTube channel. This linked to the DCMF website, which was revamped for the campaign launch with tools and information about melanoma. All our creative decisions were based around three pillars: to provide value, making online content rich with information; to lower barriers, designing things like pre-filled tweets in order to make content uber shareable; and to be human, which meant finding a balance between gravity, poignancy and humour.

And?

Despite zero paid for media support, the film went certifiably viral. Clocking over 1,000,000 YouTube hits in its first week. It's had over 4,000 YouTube comments and 13,500 likes, all of which have driven over 100,000 users to the website. 2/3 of those users went directly to the Tools page where self-check materials can be downloaded. Results are still coming in - this space will be updated as that happens.