The Golden Award of Montreux has named 360i’s #Mamming initiative as the top non-profit campaign of the year in digital. Launched by two female creatives at 360i, one a breast cancer survivor herself, the effort took aim at the inherent awkwardness of mammograms and spurred a global meme that reminded people to visit the doctor and get this life-saving procedure.
One in eight women will be affected by breast cancer in her lifetime. Right now, early detection is our best defense against the disease – but mammograms are awkward, painful and uncomfortable to talk about. The goal of #mamming was to make people more comfortable with the conversation and the procedure.
#Mamming was a spin on an existing Internet favorite, “planking.” The idea was to get people to Instagram photos of themselves laying their (clothed) breasts on things, just like a woman does during a mammogram. We worked with famous comedy actresses to create a video for getting the word out, and created a website to provide information about the cause and curate the deluge of #mamming photographs submitted by eager fans engaging with the campaign.
The effort instantly gained global press coverage in places like Fast Company, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post UK, The New York Post, Creativity and more. It was shared by celebrities such as heavyweight boxing champ Lennox Lewis, digital curator Guy Kawasaki and Whoopi Goldberg — who got in on the action by mamming on “The View.” With zero paid media support, the campaign went global and viral, garnering over 332 million earned media impressions.
Most importantly, all of the media and social buzz sparked a conversation about prevention. And though these conversations started with #mamming, they ended with mammograms, proving the power of social media to make a real difference.
The Golden Award is an independent forum committed to improving the standard of creative excellence. This year’s jurors hailed from 19 countries worldwide, and included advertising executives, global marketing leaders, communications professors and creative directors. Additional accolades for the #Mamming campaign include a Finalist nod in the New York Festivals World’s Best Advertising Awards and a shortlist nomination by the Shorty Awards.
