ICYMI: How Melanoma Patients Australia engaged with young sunbathers via social media in this skin cancer prevention campaign

The Big Idea

Stereotypically, skin cancer was considered something middle-aged and elderly Aussies suffered from, but research commissioned by the MPA (Melanoma Patients Australia) in 2014 showed that of the 1,500 Australians dying every year from the disease, most were somewhere between 15 and 30-years old.   

Long summers of sun-worshipping and bad habits around personal protection made melanoma the most lethal form of cancer for this age group bar none.  

Taking action, the MPA needed to raise awareness and change behaviour amongst an incredibly hard to reach audience.  

So, rather than launching a load of preachy public health warnings on TV telling teens and young adults to put on sunscreen and cover-up – it did something a little different. Meeting people at the point in which they were exhibiting unsafe behaviour in a place they would most engage. 

Social media.

What They Did

Kicking things off, the MPA created a creepy online persona for _melanoma on Instagram and Twitter.   

Combined with a unique algorithm that allowed the account to communicate directly with other users, the target audience was sought out in real-time, identified by geolocated posts or specific hashtags.  

So, anytime anyone that fitted the profile and posted from the beach, pool or used a handful of words like #tanned #tanlines #poolside and #sunbake, users would immediately get a new ‘friend’. Liking and commenting with a tailored message like “love it, see you soon!”, “let’s hope the weather sticks around” and “feel free to forget the sunscreen”.

Dropping onto their social feeds right at the point of exposure, the relatively simple bit of technical trickery delivered a dose of much-needed reality. And, on clicking the profile, users were taken directly to a skin check web page offering instructions on what to look for, where to get tested and some super simple prevention techniques.