Inspired by the ever-viral #FitCheck trend, the #TitCheck campaign was rooted in an alarming fact: 80% of young women diagnosed with breast cancer find their breast abnormality themselves—many while getting dressed.
Science & Purpose (a Purpose Group company) partnered with Lizzo’s shapewear brand, YITTY, and nonprofit, Young Survival Coalition, to drive early detection and improve survival rates in early-onset breast cancer with the #TitCheck campaign.
The campaign urges young adults to make their #FitCheck (checking an outfit before leaving the house) a #TitCheck by practicing “breast self-awareness.” Breast self-awareness is all about knowing what’s normal for your own breasts, so you can detect changes right away. It is also now the preferred way for young adults to check for breast changes that may indicate early onset breast cancer.
The #TitCheck campaign features bold and diverse original artwork and encourages young people to: Think about their breasts when they get dressed, Identify any changes, and Talk to their doctor. We aimed to have a robust social presence that was supported by an engaging and easy-to-navigate website. But our campaign objectives were also accompanied by a bigger goal: to get our audience to participate in a simple online survey to measure understanding of breast self-awareness and risk reduction. The survey results will identify gaps in this generation’s understanding of breast health and help create opportunities for future education and research.
The #TitCheck campaign came to life through a series of blue-sky thinking, taking chances, and asking for things we thought people would say no to.
After we identified the core insight that scaffolded the creative idea (that 80% of women with breast cancer identify it themselves, many while getting dressed), we outlined our dream partners. Young Survival Coalition (YSC) is a nonprofit that supports young adults with breast cancer, but their broader mission is to get young people involved in the research, community, and conversation around breast cancer. We believed the #TitCheck campaign could do that.
Once Young Survival Coalition came onboard, we shortlisted a few shapewear/undergarment companies, knowing they would have to be comfortable aligning with what some might perceive as a ‘language barrier’ with the use of the word ‘tit’. In the midst of all of this, Lizzo announced the launch of YITTY. We knew we found our dream brand partner.
We contacted YITTY President Kristen Dykstra on LinkedIn (with a character limit of 300 no less!) and lo and behold she responded, open to hearing our idea. After a pitch to YITTY Marketing and several weeks of breath-holding, we got the news that the team loved the idea and Lizzo herself had blessed it.
Our creative vision for the campaign was always to create something bold; more specifically, something that would stand out in the typical October sea of pink. We fell in love with a Spanish campaign illustrated by artist/creative director Marga Castaño and approached her about collaborating with us pro-bono. Within hours, she was sketching the TitCheck ‘ladies’—what became the core imagery of the campaign—and sending them over for feedback.
While building the campaign, we ensured the content we put into the world aligned with Young Survival Coalition’s messaging and goals, as well as YITTY’s brand ethos. We were laser-focused on diversity and inclusion, so that young people of any color, size, or gender found relevant, helpful, and motivating information as part of their #TitCheck experience. When educating around potential breast cancer symptoms, we were sure to highlight any symptom differences between light and dark skin tones—“redness,” for example, shows up as more of a purple hue on dark skin. These important details were recognized by our audience and praised consistently.
Our website, Titcheck.org, focused on engaging educational content and featured: the latest on breast self-awareness, how to conduct a #TitCheck, symptom identification, how to speak to a healthcare professional (including a downloadable doctor discussion guide), and quotes from survivors who had words of wisdom to share.
Our social assets lived predominantly on Instagram and were co-created with the YSC and YITTY teams. Again, we were focused on ensuring that each company could continue speaking to their audiences in an authentic voice. YITTY promoted the #TitCheck campaign across all brand platforms throughout the month of October, including an Instagram Live between a young Latina breast cancer survivor and African-American breast cancer surgeon (also a breast cancer survivor).
From October 6th-31st, the #TitCheck campaign reached hundreds of thousands online—exposing our target audience to the ins-and-outs of a #TitCheck. In a 3.5-week period, there were nearly 4000 visitors to the Titcheck.org website, just over 140 unique visitors a day. What’s more, the Young Survival Coalition homepage saw a 25% increase in page views versus the month prior.
Our social engagement was strong, with the participation of significant under-40 influencers like Remi Bader and Tinx. Lizzo’s Big Grrrls helped generate support for the campaign, as well as prominent black breast cancer survivors like Bershan Shaw and Dr. Monique Gary. We were also approached for ongoing collaboration by nonprofits like The Boobie Docs and Touch BBCA, who have praised our easy-to-follow education and diverse messaging and imagery.
Our campaign was picked up across many publications including InStyle.com, PopSugar.com, PR Weekly, MM&M, Black Health Matters, and more. As mentioned previously, we hosted an online survey accessible from the website that measured understanding of breast self-awareness and cancer risk reduction. Our goal was to reach above-benchmark participation in the survey, with significant involvement from underrepresented groups. We can now boast a response rate that’s 25% higher than YSC’s previous survey benchmark, which will inform future needed education and research.
We feel this has helped us reach our goal of impacting not just the young adults of today, but the ones of tomorrow.
