Time is the significant differentiator between early stage breast cancer and mBC. While early stage breast cancer is a life-changing diagnosis, there is still hope for remission and full recovery. Not so with mBC. It is estimated that every two hours in Canada, one woman dies from mBC, yet it is hardly addressed in the media and online.

We developed a robust multi-channel program called It’s About mBC Time – signifying that it’s about time to bring the breast cancer narrative beyond a pink conversation to be more inclusive of women living with mBC. We tailored the campaign for both English and French markets, which was necessary to achieve success. The term “mBC” is unknown and does not translate well in French; as a result we developed a new name and assets that would engage French-speaking Canadians – Parlons Stade 4 (Let’s talk about Stage 4).

Launching on Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day (October 13), PR activities included:

- The development of a new unique symbol that the mBC community could call their own

- Experiential teams brought the campaign to the streets of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, handing out 10,000 buttons featuring the symbol and information about mBC

- 12 original testimonials from patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals, representing the 12 Canadian women that die from mBC each day. Profiles were posted on mbctime.ca, and shared through the Facebook accounts of the three partners

- Two highly-emotional videos featuring well-known Canadians: Teva Harrison, an author diagnosed with mBC, and Louise Portal, an actress whose sister died from mBC. The videos were hosted on Facebook, mbctime.ca, and YouTube

- A two-day media tour with Teva and Louise

- A paid digital media strategy for Facebook and YouTube to promote the videos and profiles

Objectives

-12,000 mbctime.ca visits

-360,000 campaign video views

-3-4 million media impressions; 10 stories; 80% MRP™ score (PR industry standard for evaluating quality/tone of media coverage)

-Spokesperson quote in 85% of media coverage

-4,000 Facebook post likes; 3,600 shares

-Facebook Reach: 900,000

-Two patient group partnerships

Outcomes/Outputs:

-20,000+ mbctime.ca visits

-836,645 video views

-9,268,091 media impressions; 36 stories; 92% MRP score

-Spokesperson quote in 94% of media coverage

-15,981 Facebook likes; 7,742 shares

-Facebook Reach: 1,121,168

-Three patient groups participated and are partnering again in 2017

Media shifted their focus from talking solely about the disease, to the women affected. Our campaign successfully put women and their needs at the centre of the national discourse about mBC, and made them part of the larger breast cancer narrative. There were 107 more mBC mentions in traditional media (32% increase) and a 65% increase in traditional and social media impressions versus 2015. After the campaign, a new group, Metastatic Breast Cancer Advocacy Canada, requested to adopt our mBC symbol in its logo.

It’s About mBC Time has been recognized globally by Pfizer, is being used in other markets and has gained praise within the Canadian and US breast cancer community. The campaign is being acclaimed internally as a truly integrated program that proves how a powerful, research-based idea, supported by building trusted partnerships, putting patients at the core, and leveraging the power of traditional and social media can generate incredible results and give women with mBC a voice that cannot be ignored.