The background:

In the UAE, cancer is the third leading cause of death among women after cardiovascular diseases and injuries, with breast cancer being the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. Spreading awareness around breast cancer in the Middle East is always a challenge because speaking about breast cancer openly is considered taboo, owing to the privacy around women's bodies. The most common reason given by women for not performing a breast cancer check is lack of time.

The challenge:

K-Lynn is one of UAE's leading lingerie brands - an e-commerce-driven one - that has always put women’s intimate needs above all else.

Women in the UAE had exposure to messaging but lacked knowledge and tangible solutions.

How do we influence self-checks for breast cancer in a consistent and culturally sensitive way, equipping women in the UAE with the knowledge and tools they needed?

The insight:

Women procrastinated checking for breast cancer because they were scared.

But they were not procrastinating online shopping.

In fact, Arab women spend over 60 minutes browsing online retail stores, every day. When it comes to lingerie, that time tends to be high too.

The disruptive idea:

Self Check-out: A first-of-its-kind self-check guide from K-Lynn converting lingerie models into self-check teachers, turning lingerie-buying into a live-saving habit.

And since most lingerie shopping is done in private, K-Lynn's e-commerce website became a first-of-its-kind channel that directly reached women during a captive moment and encouraged them to perform self-checks effectively.

The transformational execution:

1- Introducing a disruptive twist to K-Lynn’s e-commerce lingerie collection:

Every lingerie website looks the same – with models featured in typical beauty poses. K-Lynn’s looked no different .

So, we changed that.

We re-shot our models, breaking away from how they’re conventionally seen, with poses defined by oncologists present on-shoot, creating a step-by-step guide to performing a breast cancer self-check.

These new photos replaced the entire online catalogue, encouraging self-check and turning shopping into a life- saving lesson.

The website nudged women to self-check when they browsed our collection and drove them to book a mammogram with our affiliated clinics through K-Lynn's website.

We also elevated the K-Lynn's website chat function into a channel for women to connect with medical professionals and book their appointment.

2- Amplifying the idea:

Online: We promoted the re-launch of the e-commerce website with our purpose-driven photography on K-Lynn's social media channels and through programmatic banners across digital platforms, driving shoppers searching for lingerie to the self-check guide on our website.

Women’s health magazines: We featured K-Lynn’s new collection across key women’s health magazines with a QR code leading to the website.

Influencer advocacy: We partnered with key influencers who shot the collection with us; became advocates of the idea and shared their experiences.

3- Generating advocacy:

We open sourced the idea as influencers started inviting other brands to follow suit.