According to statistics, breast cancer is one of the most widespread conditions women face. In fact, research shows that one in eight women will develop some form of breast cancer. These numbers point to the fact that this condition impacts tens of millions of people, including patients, their families, and friends.
To pay homage to them all and to recognize their hardships and heroism, the National Breast Cancer Foundation has chosen October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. During October, the foundation spreads awareness about the condition, does free testing, and encourages people to donate and help everyone affected.
However, it is not just up to the foundation to celebrate this month. In fact, all businesses can and should join in and use their platforms to promote breast health and regular screenings. Moreover, they should offer their support to all cancer survivors and engage with the community meaningfully.
With October approaching fast, you have a chance to take a stand for breast cancer awareness. Read on to see how your brand can contribute and bring about necessary change through cause-related marketing.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Promo Guide
Here is everything you have to think about when it comes to planning your campaign for this October.
Who Is Your Audience?
As with any other form of promotion, knowing your audience is essential to effective cause marketing. After all, if you pinpoint which demographic you’ll focus on, picking the best promo items becomes a lot easier.
Statistically, women over 50 are most affected by breast cancer. Thus, they should be your main focus. Every promo item and event you plan should be aimed at showing support to them.
However, it is also important to target women in general. Sadly, breast cancer does not discriminate when it comes to age. Anyone can develop and be affected by it, so you should have items that appeal to everyone.
Develop Your Campaign Well
For a campaign to be successful, it has to be thoroughly planned out and well researched. This is especially important for cause-related campaigns, as they require even more dedication and attention to detail.
If you want to appeal to cancer survivors and at-risk groups alike, you have to put emphasis on your support for the entire community. In that regard, speaking out is beneficial, but actions always carry more weight.
Thus, you should take definitive action and take a firm stand. Organising events in your town or city and donating to local breast cancer charities are great starting points. Through such steps, you will show that your business is a serious ally the community can count on.
Involving your brand in local charitable events will also bring you positive attention. People will be much more likely to buy from you if they see that you support a community in need.
Moreover, they will associate your brand with positive traits, including reliability, integrity, and helpfulness. Such qualities are essential for increasing brand awareness and improving your reputation.
Choose Your Promo Items Carefully
Including promo items in your breast cancer awareness campaign is a smart move. It will allow you to leave a lasting mark in people’s minds and make all your events more memorable.
However, you have to choose your promo products carefully. They have to reflect both the case and the time of year well. In other words, they have to fit the autumn spirit and be appropriate gifts in the month of October.
So, don’t waste your time personalising summer-related products. Items such as beach balls and sunglasses will miss the mark entirely, making them an unsuitable investment that can reflect poorly on your brand’s reputation.
Instead, focus your attention on items that fit the season. Examples include blankets, scented candles, body care bundles, socks, etc. In addition, you can also have some classics that fit any campaign and season, such as keyrings, , lanyards, and earbuds.
All of these items are practical and useful, and most of them give you more than enough branding area to work with. Thus, you will be able to appeal to your audience and ensure your message resonates with them.
Promo Items That Will Help You Have a Successful Campaign
1. Stationery
Stationery items — pens, notebooks, or sticky notes — are some of the most effective promo products you can choose from. They are welcome gifts, as people always need writing equipment and paper.
Furthermore, stationery is also incredibly easy to customise for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You can adorn pens and notebooks with the pink ribbon—the official symbol of the condition.
Alternatively, you can just hand out pink stationery with unique and poignant messaging. Either way, your intentions and support will be clear to everyone who receives your merch.
2. Tote Bags
Customising tote bags for this occasion can be a real win-win situation for your company. First off, you get to show your support to cancer survivors and anyone else affected by the condition. But in addition, you also have a chance to present your brand as eco-friendly.
Totes are inexpensive and highly visible, making them a perfect choice for any type of campaign. Furthermore, they offer you more than enough branding area. You can use it to include your logo, a message, images, statistics, or anything else you think fits the theme.
3. Mugs
Mugs are promo items that fit any season but are especially suitable for autumn and winter. Even more importantly, they can appeal to all demographics and make excellent gifts to people of all ages.
So, if you want to appeal to all women out there, mugs are a good place to start. Again, making them pink or at least including a pink ribbon is a must, as that will make it clear that they are tied to October and its significance for breast cancer.
To make them even more appealing, you can include messages of support on the mugs as well. Such messages will make your stance clear. Moreover, everyone who sees the mugs will have to do a double take, bringing both your brands and the cause more impressions.
4. T-Shirts and Sweatshirts
If you are planning an outdoor event for your campaign, giving all your staff and volunteers matching T-shirts or sweatshirts is a wise idea. Besides making them more recognisable in a crowd, the garments offer you a great opportunity to spread an important message.
Apart from giving the tees to your employees, you can also sell them to the visitors at your event. You can then donate the proceeds to a charity or a particular patient or family affected by breast cancer.
T-shirts and sweatshirts are durable items that people can wear long after your event concludes. Every time they see the message and spread it around to others, people will remember that it all comes from your brand. That will, in turn, increase your brand awareness and improve your reputation.
Related content:
How To Make The Best Personalised T-Shirts for Your Customers
5. Gifts That Promote Early Detection
When detected early enough, breast cancer is a manageable condition that can be cured with chemo, radiation, and surgery. That is why all organisations put emphasis on early detection, regular screenings, and self-examination.
Your brand can do the same if you opt to customise and hand out gifts that emphasise early detection. You have a lot of options, but the most effective ones include self-exam shower cards, calendars, and apparel.
Self-Exam Shower Cards
Shower cards give you an excellent chance to remind your employees and customers of the importance of self-exams. You can print clear instructions on the cards, reminding women how to approach self-examination and which steps to take each time they shower.
In addition, you can include a clear but effective message about annual check-ups. That way, you’ll provide women with everything they need to maintain their health and catch any abnormalities early.
Desk Calendars
Personalised desk calendars make fantastic gifts for anyone but are especially fitting for office workers. They can keep calendars on their desks and mark all important tasks and events.
You can easily make the calendars fit with your breast cancer awareness theme by doing two things. First, the calendars need to be pink or adorned with a pink ribbon. Second, they should have a date reserved for an annual screening, as well as particular days for self-exams.
With the customisation out of the way, all that’s left to do is give the calendars away to the women in your office. However, keep in mind that you can also give them to the men. While they won’t be able to use them themselves, they can distribute them to their wives, girlfriends, moms, sisters, or friends.
Apparel
Finally, branded apparel can also help you spread awareness about early detection. In this category, we include custom T-shirts, hoodies, jackets, beanies, scarves, hats, and all other accessories.
Again, you can give these items away to your employees and sell them to customers. That way, you will still get to make a small profit, which can mean a lot if you are on a tight budget.
6. Drinkware
Another meaningful way to spread awareness is to hand out personalised tumblers or reusable water bottles with pink ribbons and related imagery. Drinkware can be used beyond October as well, making this idea especially effective in the long run.
This fact is important because encouraging screenings and informing people about breast cancer should happen all year round. By personalising drinkware, you can contribute and help make that a reality.
7. Phone Accessories
With the digital age well underway, just about everyone out there has a smartphone. Thus, you cannot go wrong by customising smartphone accessories such as phone chargers, stylus pens, phone wallets, and so on.
For October, you can make these accessories pink in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Add your logo to them inconspicuously, and let a powerful message take centre stage.
For more important clients or potential partners, you can go a step further and hand out high-end gifts. Examples include wireless phone chargers, power banks, headphones, speakers, etc.
Events and Activities That You Can Organise in October
Now, you know which items you can hand out for Breast Cancer Awareness Month to raise awareness. But which events can you organise to do so? If you’re asking yourself this question, we have you covered. Below, you can find three campaign ideas that can make this October the most meaningful one yet.
You should choose those that fit your budget and the industry you belong to. However, most of them are suitable for any industry as they are quite general.
A Pink Potluck
Do you want to organise an event for your staff and have breast cancer awareness as the main theme? In that case, a pink-themed potluck might be a great idea. Your employees can bring their families, and you can all pay homage to those affected by breast cancer together.
As with any potluck, all attendees would be required to bring a dish or dessert. But in this case, all the dishes should contain pink ingredients (such as guava, pink Himalayan salt, or ruby cocoa beans) or be connected to the cause in some other way.
To take things to the next level, you can also hand out some promo items. These can include branded toys for kids and personalised calendars for adults. Of course, anything you hand out should fit the theme and send a clear message to the recipient.
A Scavenger Hunt
If the weather allows it and your town isn’t too big, you can organise an equally fun and impactful event: a scavenger hunt! Simply hide suitable promo items all across town, and let your customers, employees, and other community members look for them.
Anything people find, they get to keep. That will give them an incentive to keep looking, and it will attract even more participants to join in. And all the while, people will have the cause on their minds, helping raise awareness.
You can also have people pay a small fee to participate in the hunt. The money you gather can go to a charity everyone agrees on or to a particular patient in your community.
Social Media Campaigns
Finally, if you cannot organise in-person events, worry not. You can still do your part for the cause on social media. During October, you can post images, statistics, patient testimonies, and survivor stories on your socials. In addition, you can include tips on self-exams, remind people of the importance of early detection, and link some of the clinics that offer free screenings.
Moreover, you can also urge all your followers to donate to organisations connected to breast cancer. Of course, it is best to lead by example, so make sure that you contribute as well — and show proof. That way, people will know that you value actions more than words.
You may also like:
Doctors’ Appreciation Day — Gift Ideas to Make the Event Special
Order Promo Items for This Year’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month
If you are ready to make this October count by spreading awareness about breast cancer, GoPromotional can help you. Together, we can come up with a list of promo items you can customise for the occasion. We will help you fit everything into your budget and your brand’s image.
Give us a call at 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today, and we will help you show your support to your community in the best way possible. We are waiting for you!
