From a TV broadcast perspective, full frontal nudity is against the code of ethics and generally would not get TV airplay. Our sensitive and relevant treatment of our topless breast cancer survivor gave us an approval with an M rating (Recommended for viewing only by persons 15 and over).

Today, 1 in 8 Australian women will develop breast cancer. While most pink campaigns focus on fundraising, the importance of detecting cancer in its early stages has been largely ignored. Cancer Council NSW wanted a campaign that would change behaviour and inspire women to self-examine, as catching the disease early is by far the best route to successful treatment and is proven to increase a woman’s chance of survival. It was also critical that the campaign had cut-through in the cluttered charity space. We created the I Touch Myself Project, transforming her song about female sexuality into an anthem for breast cancer, to once again inspire a generation of women to touch themselves. We brought ten of Australia’s leading female singers together to create a moving music video. International media picked up the campaign within hours of the launch, reaching audiences of 400 million plus.

We needed to create a campaign that would get attention and generate conversations and visibility in the media that young women actually engage with (fashion, celebrity and music programs and magazines) and would motivate behavior change. We took a well-known song that a generation of young women had identified with, added the power of celebrity and the adoration Australians had for Chrissy Amphlett to deliver a powerful cancer message in the form of a music video. The music video was supported by an integrated campaign consisting of educational, entertaining and behaviour-changing content.

The project was launched for the anniversary of Chrissy’s death and the video drove women to a content-rich ‘I Touch Myself Project’ website that encourages women to self-examine while listening to their favourite singer's mix.

The music video launched to an audience of 2.2 million on Australia’s top-rating evening current affairs show Sunday Night (it was the most shared segment in the show's history). The video was embedded in the website and aired as PSA spots on Australian free-to-air channels, in cinema and pay-TV.

We launched a photo meme ‘I touch myselfie’ encouraging women to show support on social media by posting a selfie making a pledge to touch themselves – symbolising it with a shot of themselves touching their (clothed) breast.

From the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to the First Lady of Timor-Leste, award-winning journalists to a mum blogger, a celebrity TV chef to a stand-up comic, we enlisted women from all facets of life to encourage other women to support and share the video.

International media picked up the campaign within hours of the launch, reaching audiences of 400 million plus. Over 250,000 Australian women visited the site. Critically, 80% of these visitors got in touch with their breast health, with 42% performing their first ever self-exam guided by the information and facts section of the website. The greater campaign, including social media and PR, helped reach 47% of Australian women. #itouchmyselfproject became a trending topic on Facebook for 2 days.

A project with no media budget, just a powerful message from Australia’s greatest rock diva, help achieved $AUD7m in free PR and was picked up internationally by media including the Huffington Post, Rolling Stone and Billboard magazines - unconventional places for a breast cancer message. The story was covered across all media demographics: from Buzzfeed to Australian national talkback radio as part of a women’s health panel of doctors who praised the positive messaging of the campaign.

Behaviour change is notoriously hard to prompt and most women, despite their awareness of the disease, self exempt rather than self-examine, thinking ‘it won’t happen to me’. How could we get self-examination on the radar?

The conventional answer would have been to feature breast cancer survivors. To tell stories of women who detected their cancers early through self-examination through a social media campaign. However, we felt that stories of survival would be less effective at generating a sense of vulnerability, which was essential to encourage women to take their breast health into their own hands.

Our strategy was to focus on the tragic reality that many breast cancers are not detected early enough. Our creative solution was not to mourn, but to celebrate a breast cancer victim and to do it in a way never done before - with a piece of branded entertainment – supported by a website, digital posters and social media campaign.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Australian women, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today. Early detection is the best solution, however most breast cancers are found too late as few women regularly perform breast self-exams. Cancer Council NSW wanted a campaign that would inspire women to change their behaviour and encourage them to regularly self-check. We needed to inform and inspire women to touch their breasts for their own health. It was critical the campaign cut through the cluttered charity space and speak to women in a contemporary, empowering and positive way.