In the summer of 2023/24 Cancer Council, in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, launched the first national skin cancer prevention campaign targeting young Australians in over a decade.
The campaign aimed to drive up the use of sun protection behaviours to reduce the rate of skin cancer by addressing young Australian’s attitudes towards suntanning.
A Sun Protection Behaviour Change Model identified that ‘unhelpful attitudes’ (positive attitudes towards suntanning) were the strongest negative driver and so the campaign needed to challenge the idea that a suntan is healthy and makes you more attractive, whilst also shifting the ‘bad social norms’ (media, influencers, brands, etc.) that inform these ‘unhelpful attitudes’.
The campaign strategy was therefore to make sun safety aspirational, question norms around suntanning and begin to dismantle the unhelpful attitudes which are a key driver of poor sun protective behaviours.
This strategy was executed across three phases of activity, with the first phase focused on normalising sun protection through pockets of trusted third-party voices. The second phase was aimed at shifting ‘unhelpful attitudes’ by expanding the pool of third-party voices who were questioning suntanning trends. The final phase sought to complete conversion. With the target audience’s attitudes softened, branded advertising was introduced to remind and reinforce behaviour change.
The campaign ran from December 2023 to April 2024 and campaign content generated approximately 300m impressions.