CanTeen is an Australian organisation that supports and empowers young people living with cancer. For the past 19 years CanTeen has held National Bandanna Day; an annual event which gives Australians a day where they can show their support by purchasing a bandanna, with all funds going to CanTeen.

However, apart from National Bandanna Day, CanTeen’s marketing spend throughout the year is very low. So we needed to find a way to turn a once-a-year burst of donations into a year-long revenue stream.

We created Bandanna Art, a world-first iOS application that allows people to design and purchase their very own personalised bandannas, which would be printed and delivered to them, with 100% of profits going directly to CanTeen.

The campaign included a native iPhone and iPad application, plus web and mobile sites to drive people to download the application and allow us to showcase bandanna designs.

This created a greater level of engagement and flexibility as purchasing, sharing and liking was enabled for all users, regardless of their device or if they had downloaded the application.

Bandanna Art has revolutionised the way CanTeen raises funds and awareness. By opening up a new and exciting fundraising stream, it has transformed what was a single day of fundraising into a highly engaging, year-long sales channel.

Says Vanessa Byrne, General Manager, Marketing and Fundraising for CanTeen, “The bandanna is such an integral part of who CanTeen is and means so much to the young people we support. Tribal DDB have not only captured the essence of the CanTeen brand, but have provided an exciting way for us to trial a digital component to the traditionally offline National Bandanna Day.”

The initial results of Bandanna Art have far exceeded expectations, with over 5000 downloads and 3000 personalised bandannas created to date, as well as exposure on national television.

But more importantly, for the first time in its history, CanTeen has a way to generate funds and awareness for young Australians living with cancer, all year round.

Bandanna Art has revolutionised the way CanTeen raises funds and awareness. By opening up a new and exciting fundraising stream, it has transformed what was a single day of fundraising into a highly engaging, year-long sales channel

Says Vanessa Byrne, General Manager, Marketing and Fundraising for CanTeen, “The bandanna is such an integral part of who CanTeen is and means so much to the young people we support. [The agency] have not only captured the essence of the CanTeen brand, but have provided an exciting way for us to trial a digital component to the traditionally offline National Bandanna Day.”

The initial results of Bandanna Art have far exceeded expectations, with over 5,000 downloads and 3,000 personalised bandannas created to date, as well as exposure on national television.

But more importantly, for the first time in its history, CanTeen has a way to generate funds and awareness for young Australians living with cancer, all year round.