THE ALLIANCE FOR BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
IN WOMEN & MEN


EDITOR NOTE: This document is an edited version of the original plan created by graduate students in the School of Communication at the College of Communication and Information at The Florida State University after completing advanced marketing communications research with over 600 participants.


PREFACE


The genesis of The Alliance for Breast Cancer Awareness in Women & Men (The Alliance) came from an assignment by an adjunct professor teaching account planning at the graduate level at The Florida State University’s School of Communication in the College of Communication and Information at the urging of two students, Bryan Schulis and Mark Owens. This was seconded by the professor’s wife and reluctantly by the teacher, who is a male breast cancer survivor.

The advanced opinion research, the first of its kind to the knowledge of its participants where females and males are involved, was not in any way construed to be medical in nature, but rather a study in attitudes and awareness among women and men of this horrific disease. The results will be made available to the medical/health communities and the media, as well as other interested parties.

As an outgrowth of this advanced research, another class taught by the instructor, developed strategic Integrated Marketing Communications branding plans that will launch The Alliance into the 21st Century.


THE ALLIANCE FOR BREAST CANCER IN WOMEN & MEN

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Alliance for Breast Cancer Awareness in Women & Men is a not-for-profit organization created to become an information resource for the adult public of all ages, as well as the medical/health profession, media and allied organizations. The Alliance’s focus is in-depth marketing communications research that will serve as a continuing resource on matters of attitudes and awareness about breast cancer in women and men. Additionally, it will serve as a navigational marketing tool for any organization that wants to disseminate breast cancer awareness, i.e., a venue that needs tactical tools such as print advertising, storyboards, promotions, public relations, direct marketing, etc. This will advance concepts that cut through the noise level of what the public is now use to in viewing over 3,000 messages every day, including those about female breast cancer that are not always creative and may be lost in the clutter of messaging.

 

VALIDATION

The process to create The Alliance would never have taken place or even thought necessary, if it weren’t for a slap across the mind set by an oncologist in Los Angeles’ Revlon Breast Center at UCLA. In a conversation with the adjunct professor, he said that he believed the one percent of males diagnosed annually might be as high as 20 percent if there were routine breast examinations for men. This was echoed by an oncologist in Tallahassee, Florida, who said the figure might be between 10-15 percent. (In Zambia, Africa, the figure is 15 percent, and Tanzania and Egypt six percent.) Most recently, Bosom Buddies, a women’s support group in Tallahassee, endorsed the effort of The Alliance as a viable addition in creating awareness and favorable attitudes in fighting the disease.

These are not only interesting, but disturbing statistics, if not warning signs. It says men should not only be attentive to their significant others, but also to themselves.

 

DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM: NOW AN OPPORTUNITY*

Male breast cancer does not exist in the conscious awareness of most people because the disease afflicts a small number of men each year. But it is important to be aware of the disease, especially for males who have a genetic pre-disposition for breast cancer, being over 60 years of age, obese, have been exposed to radiation, or have any of the risk factors associated with the development of male breast cancer. Female breast cancer owns the media attention as it should with males owning none. Some treatment facilities aren’t prepared to treat males, and most surgeons have never operated on a male. Support groups for males dealing with emotional trauma essentially don’t exist. Males, especially younger ones, pose a masculinity complex or ”superman complex,” and tend to take the mindset of invincibility, and that regular checkups are unnecessary. Similarly, many males of all ages ignore health problems in the belief they will simply go away. These subconscious stigmas deter many men from taking good care of their bodies. This says there is an opportunity to create awareness outside a doctor’s office through unconventional marketing tactics that might be the key to penetrating the shell of masculinity, and the concept: “Out of Sight, Out of Mind.”

* Definition of the Problem was written by Amanda Pagnotta of the Garnet & Gold Communication Group, a subset of Florida State University’s Team IMC in the School of Communication.

 

BACKGROUND

An Oscar and applause goes to the effort that has created the marketing category of breast cancer as one of the most “branded products” in the U.S. Hundreds of millions of dollars are annually spent to promote awareness that generates millions back for research and cause-related venues. As it should be, breast cancer is perceived as a women’s disease, as 99 percent diagnosed each year are females, unless you’re in the one percent of males who have the disease.

This creates an interesting dialogue or argument. Can men help build awareness for a women’s cause? To this end, a graduate class at The Florida State University undertook an advanced marketing communications research study to determine the attitudes and awareness of breast cancer among females and males that resulted in extremely interesting observations.

 

RESEARCH THROUGH ACCOUNT PLANNING

Twenty four graduate students were split into four teams to embark on an attitude and awareness study among consumers that centered on breast cancer among females and males. Because millions of dollars have been spent on behalf of women, the students could have rightfully assumed that women know all that they have to know about the horrific disease. They assumed nothing, asking both females and males a litany of questions and probes through on-line questionnaires, personal interviews and focus group studies. In all, 600 persons were involved in the findings, the majority in Tallahassee, but with one group going nationwide. For The Alliance, the single most important probe was built around whether the participants felt there should be some kind of campaign on behalf of men.

 

CONCLUSIONS

  • An awareness campaign for males is relevant and would yield positive results for both sexes by bringing more attention, and hopefully dollars to the cause. The campaign would be part of, and not separate from female tactics, albeit, one team thought it should be in two parts as a separate brand and separate culture. This could be perceived as expensive, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be, through extreme and creative advertising, using the internet exclusively with public relations play.
  • Obstacles include: The relative obscurity of the disease in men; male reluctance to get regular checkups; the feminine stigma of the disease, and uncertain female acceptance of the opposite sex into what is perceived as a women’s arena. Some respondents felt that it is a disease that creates a “sisterhood” among its survivors, and to include men would violate the sanctity of this group.
  • Doctors should take a proactive position for males by examining their breasts during annual checkups.
  • Publicizing oncologist’s statistics that the one percent factor might be much higher if more males were regularly examined.

 

 

MISSION STATEMENT

There are five distinct, but intertwining objectives for The Alliance mission. These will be seamlessly integrated as the program unfolds
  • Introduce The Alliance as an organization involved in the exchange of ideas for the betterment of breast cancer awareness.
  • Advance and broaden the understanding of breast cancer and the fact it crosses genders, without diminishing the realities and perception that males are a minority, but should be part of the equation.
  • Be a depository for all target audiences who want the facts about the public’s attitude and awareness in the breast cancer category, and its relationship between females and males.
  • Assure interested parties that The Alliance does not alienate women, who may think it’s an intrusion into what they perceive as their territory.
  • Build awareness among men who may dig deeper into their pockets on behalf of research knowing they too will develop the disease. (This was not validated by research, but will be looked at further.)