WWE’s partnership with Susan G. Komen and our #RiseAboveCancer campaign launched during National Breast Cancer Awareness month in October 2013, to help raise awareness and funds for Komen and their mission of breast cancer research.
RiseAboveCancer, a play on our most popular character John Cena’s motto “Rise Above Hate," is at the forefront of this multi-year campaign that already raised more than $1 million for Komen in 2012. This amount was achieved purely from sales of #RiseAboveCancer branded merchandise, including hats, T-shirts and wristbands, among other items, that featured Koman’s trademark pink coloring – symbolic of support for breast cancer survivors and the quest to discover a cure through research.
INTRODUCTION:
RiseAboveCancer, a play on our most popular character John Cena’s motto “Rise Above Hate," is at the forefront of this multi-year campaign that already raised more than $1 million for Komen in 2012. This amount was achieved purely from sales of #RiseAboveCancer branded merchandise, including hats, T-shirts and wristbands, among other items, that featured Koman’s trademark pink coloring – symbolic of support for breast cancer survivors and the quest to discover a cure through research.
In addition to being promoted at WWE Live Events and through WWE television programs, the #RiseAboveCancer campaign is heavily promoted across a number of our platforms through various micro-content (Instagram pictures and video, GetGlue stickers, TOUT videos) and social promotion (Facebook posts about the partnership, YouTube videos of our Superstars and Divas talking about the partnership).
In 2013, the campaign's fundraising efforts expanded past just John Cena's pink merchandise, but to 14 different Superstars, who all had special Komen pink versions of their primary t-shirt made and sold to benefit the cause. Also, the campaign was extended past the month of October to Spring 2014, to continue the successful fundraising effort.
FUNDRAISING PERIOD
Original #RiseAboveCancer campaign ran from September to October 2012. Ongoing #RiseAboveCancer campaign began in Oct. 2013, scheduled to end April 2014.
TARGET AUDIENCE
While #RiseAboveCancer targets the WWE Universe worldwide, our campaign also seeks to reach women and families of those touched by cancer. More than 5 million women watch WWE regularly.
EVALUATION OF SUCCESS
In 2013, the #RiseAboveCancer campaign has seen a 343% year-over-year increase in social engagements, with more than 329,000 engagements around the #RiseAboveCancer tag on Facebook and Twitter.
Fundraising is currently ongoing, with the sale of #RiseAboveCancer apparel available on WWEShop.com. 20% of all sales will be donated to Susan G. Komen.
ADDITIONAL VIDEOS
WWE Superstar John Cena spoke to the Susan G. Komen Leadership Conference in 2013 about the #RiseAboveCancer initiative.
WWE Divas Alicia Fox, Layla and Lilian Garcia traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure in 2013, held the same day as many local "race" events across America.
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 150 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Miami, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Munich and Tokyo. WWE’s global community outreach programs address important social issues, including education, diversity and inclusion, military support and providing hope to those in need. WWE and its Superstars and Divas support a wide range of programs, partners and initiatives that strive to positively impact children and families worldwide, including the “Be a STAR" anti-bullying campaign, WrestleMania Reading Challenge, Make-A-Wish, Special Olympics USA Games, Special Olympics Connecticut, Hire Heroes USA and many more.
