Developing our ‘We Are’ campaign with people affected by cancerDeveloping our ‘We Are’ campaign with people affected by cancer
A photo of Mei-Ling and her daughters. Mei-Ling is featured in our 'We Are' campaign.
Join the Patient Involvement Network
Sign up to our fortnightly newsletter to receive all the latest opportunities to get involved, like developing our TV and advertising campaigns. We're looking forward to working with you.
We've launched our new ‘We Are’ campaign, including our new TV adverts that focuses on the things we’re doing to make progress and improve people’s lives right now.
We're proud that people affected by cancer are at the heart of the campaign, as patients and loved ones not only feature in the adverts, but they also helped to shape the look and feel of the campaign through consultations with our Cancer Insights Panels. We involved people affected by cancer as early as possible in the process, to ensure they could meaningfully influence the look and feel of the TV ads. This included two group meetings and one email consultation with our Policy and Communications Cancer Insights Panel and a survey with the Online Cancer Insights Panel.
One of the people featured in the TV ad is Mei-Ling. Mei-Ling was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer after finding a lump. Her treatment was shaped using outputs from the Personalised Breast Cancer Programme (PBCP), which successfully helped to identify the best course of treatment to give her the best chance of survival. “I was very happy to be on the PBCP – both as it helped identify the best treatment for me but also because it is helping more people in the future.”
It was important that people affected by cancer were involved in the creative development of the TV ads, to understand how they would be received and to check they have the impact we desire.
The results were interesting and showed us that by shining a brighter light on both our science and the human impact we’re having, we'll be able to engage even more people, even more effectively, in the amazing work we do.
“It’s great to know that the feedback we gave you and the team was listened to and allowed Cancer Research UK to create a thought-provoking wonderful advert”
Cancer Insight Panel member
Some of the key changes we made
We heard:
That some of the language in the TV advert was insensitive to a patient audience. For example, the line ‘We studied tumour DNA to find better treatments, 'so they could have their mum back’ felt insensitive and negative and doesn’t reflect the bond families feel when supporting family members through a cancer diagnosis.
We changed:
As a result, we amended the line, which now reads ‘We studied tumour DNA to find better treatments, 'so she can see her girls grow up.’ This gave the team more confidence in the script and the language used.
---
We heard:
The scientific progress Cancer Research UK has made wasn’t clear, and there wasn’t a sense of urgency to explain the need for ongoing support.
We changed:
We used the first half of the adverts to explain what Cancer Research UK has achieved, before introducing statistics to explain the ongoing need for support.
---
We heard:
The panel felt it wasn’t clear that the TV adverts featured real people affected by cancer, and asked for this to be included in the ad. This feedback was also heard during the focus groups with the general public.
We changed:
We included a written line at the start of the ads - ‘featuring real people affected by cancer.’
I really like the advert. It’s simple and precise. I love the message ‘so she will see her girls grow up’. This one responds with me so much because of my present personal situation. Wonderful to see how the panel helps shape Cancer Research UK and looking forward to seeing in on TV.
Cancer Insight Panel member