Feel Your Boobies Foundation and TFM Advertising leadership kicked off a new interactive Feel Your Boobies reminder campaign today at WITF Public Media Center in Harrisburg. It is designed to get young women's attention and compel them to share and act on the Feel Your Boobies message of early detection.
Regional community members and supporters of breast cancer initiatives and related groups were among the first to see the new "Feel Your Boobies, Remind a Friend" campaign. It features a crowdsourcing component with user-generated content. Submissions are welcome starting today to support national Feel Your Boobies Week, Oct. 14-21.
"Eleven thousand U.S. women under the age of 40 are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Over 75 percent of them don't have a family history of the disease," said Feel Your Boobies Founder Leigh Hurst. "Research shows that 'feeling your boobies,' as we say, is just as effective at identifying changes or lumps as doing a formal self breast exam." Hurst should know. Identifying her own lump saved her life.
"Feel Your Boobies is an edgy, innovative organization with an in-your-face message that prides itself on having consistently developed a series of interactive campaigns that are social in nature," said Tom Hollerbach, TFM president. "I knew TFM would be a great fit to develop the multi-media Feel Your Boobies Week campaign for this nationally recognized nonprofit that has been a trailblazer in breast health education."
The Harrisburg-based agency was chosen to work alongside Hurst to develop messages and create imagery for the campaign because of its extensive experience providing digital advertising and social media marketing solutions for an array of brands with national recognition.
Miranda Metz, TFM account supervisor, introduced "Unexpected Boobies," the crowdsourcing social media campaign utilizing user-generated content. By submitting photos at fybweek.feelyourboobies.com on the Feel Your Boobies website, people can share their photos of "unexpected boobies" - random objects that remind women to "feel your boobies."
Each of the submitted images will be edited to include a custom campaign-themed border and then shared via Feel Your Boobies' Instagram account in addition to topic-specific posts shared on its Facebook and Twitter channels. Those sharing images will be entered into a contest with a "Boobies Prize Pack" with branded Feel Your Boobies merchandise valued at $150 awarded to the winner and five friends.
"We wanted something that was both consistent with past efforts plus a title that connotes exactly what we want the audience to be on the lookout for," said Metz. "We wanted a campaign that people could have fun with, be excited to share and all the while keeping the mission of Feel Your Boobies front and center. This will be running in conjunction with pre-designed concepts and creative that have been developed by our creative team."
In addition to the photo component, the Feel Your Boobies Foundation is piloting a college outreach program on select Central Pennsylvania campuses before rolling this model out nationwide. Dickinson College, Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences, Millersville University, York College, Shippensburg University and Central Pennsylvania College are part of pilot programs for upcoming initiatives including an impactful young survivors video.
The Foundation hosts an annual event called Bras Across the Bridge to help fund its College Outreach Program, and this fall it is rolling out this same event structure to help student organizations spearhead a fun event to celebrate breast health.
Campus student groups will be encouraged to host Feel Your Boobies Days. A tabling kit will include print materials to help students plan and execute a Bras Across Campus event and encourage registrations and participation. Registration for Bras Across Campus is FREE, but students that raise $25 or more will receive a FREE Feel Your Boobies t-shirt to wear during Bras Across Campus.
The official hashtags for the campaign are #UnexpectedBoobies and #FeelYourBoobiesWeek. Anyone interacting with the campaign is encouraged to use them in their tweets, snaps, posts and Instagrams.
Breast cancer survivors Michelle Burger of Middletown, Pennsylvania, and Briana Gaumer of Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, who shared their stories at the news conference, are just two of the many women—with and without cancer—who have been impacted by the Feel Your Boobies message and mission. In 2015, Feel Your Boobies reached over 1.7 million people via its Facebook page.
TFM Vice President and Creative Director Michael Diliberto credited Joanne Cassaro, fellow TFM staffer and a cancer survivor, with helping develop the creative aspects of the campaign.
“Joanne’s unique perspective as a survivor was instrumental in our ability to execute a campaign that truly encompassed FYB’s mission and goals,” said Diliberto. "Getting feedback from the target audience was also extremely important in our creative process. We talked with and sent creative drafts to young women to get insight on everything from common phrases that they use to their emotional response to the work."
To engage with Feel Your Boobies and the campaign, visit their website at feelyourboobies.com and on Facebook atfacebook.com/feelyourboobies, Twitter at @feelyourboobies, Instagram at @feelyourboobies and YouTube channel,youtube.com/channel/UCcp0Lq7crN5th4Me7qcX_yg.
About Feel Your Boobies Foundation
Feel Your Boobies Foundation is a non-profit breast cancer organization that promotes proactive breast health to young women through strategic education & outreach programs. Our campaign & programs focus on education and outreach primarily for women under 40 (pre-mammogram age).
About TFM Advertising
TFM Advertising is a full-service marketing communications agency based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with expertise in travel/tourism/hospitality, health care, package goods, B2B, financial, government, nonprofit and advocacy. TFM Advertising offers marketing solutions through strategic branding, creative strategy, digital marketing, graphic design, video production, social media marketing and media planning/buying. TFM Advertising is part of WITF Enterprises and is owned by WITF. Engage with us in real-time on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
