#ogilvychange worked with the Ministry of Health to apply behavioural science to get more people to attend preventative cancer screenings. The team applied the principles of affect to engage on an emotional level and selected the most salient messengers to encourage action. The largest health insurance company in the country recorded a growth in examinations of up to 30.9%

1. #ogilvychange Prague
MESSAGES AGAINST CANCER
Increasing cancer prevention examinations by 31%
One in three Czechs are diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime and one in four will die.
The Challenge: Cancer rates are rising but the habits of Czechs are not changing.
62% of Czechs consider it pointless to visit the doctor unless something is bothering
them, making early detection a rare occurence. This is alarming because when an early
diagnosis is critical, 95% of cancer cases can be successfully cured if diagnosed in
an early stages.
Statistics from the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic
Colorectal – 8,000 Cases, 4,000 Deaths
Breast - 7,000 Cases, 2,000 Deaths
Cervical - 1,000 Cases, 400 Deaths
Behaviour To Change: Shift the attitude of Czechs to cancer and change behaviour to
get more people to attend early checks for the most common killers.
Applying Behavioural Science:
Because of the passivity of Czechs towards the issue, typical fear mongering
approaches would not be effective. Behavioral science research shows people are more
responsive to appeals when they emotionally identify with those affected (Slovic,
2007). Based on these insights, we used the most powerful medium of all to address
health issues: family.
Our campaign also took three celebrities who had been touched by cancer during their
lives and gave them a platform to personally address one of their own family members
and encourage them to get checked. Celebrities were used because our perception of
information often depends on how much we like the individual delivering it (e.g.
Debevec & Kernan, 1984). In addition to paid media channels, PR during the five month
campaign generated 331 articles in earned media to the value of 12,5 mio CZK
(US$600,000).
CELEBRITY CHANTAL POULLAIN
“IF YOU LOVE HER, MAKE SURE THAT SHE WILL FIND TIME FOR PREVENTION IN TIME.“
Results:
The largest health insurance company in the country recorded a growth in examinations
of up to 30.9% in case of prevention screening for colorectum cancer and 10,7% in
case of breast cancer, with 673,647 people going for checks in the first four months
of 2014.
The real effects of this campaign, the lives saved, the families preserved, will
become known over a period longer than just one year, now Czech behaviour towards the
early detection of cancer has been changed for good.
Contact: jakub.hodbod@ogilvy.com #ogilvychange Prague