This innovative media idea ran for 6 weeks. As the UK’s first WhatsApp drama series, The Chat was an immersive experience, with 1250+ pieces of content, engaging women aged 40-50 where their most intimate conversations happen – through WhatsApp, on their mobiles.

This unignorable media choice tackled taboo topics, taking consumers on a journey as the drama unfolded. With Breast Cancer Now’s support woven into the narrative, the audience discovered the charity as the characters shared links from breastcancernow.org.

This groundbreaking storytelling device empowered people to talk openly about breast cancer, and share thousands of their own stories on social.

In the UK, one woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 10 minutes. Despite this alarming fact, the emotional impact of a diagnosis isn’t spoken about enough and many women in their forties and fifties suffer in silence.

Breast Cancer Now wanted to drive social change in the UK by normalising open conversation around breast cancer. The objective: to help prevent women with the disease from experiencing feelings of emotional isolation – whilst also positioning Breast Cancer Now as the place for support, whether they’re a patient, relative, friend or survivor.

Building on Breast Cancer Now’s ongoing strategy, the brief was to create an idea that led to more open conversations around breast cancer.

This target audience of 40-50 year old women use WhatsApp to share personal messages with friends & family. They also spend over 2.5 hours per day on average watching dramas. The Chat combined the two.

The Chat is the UK’s first WhatsApp drama series. Designed to connect with 40-50 year old women in a place that’s central to their daily lives – on their phones.

The story unfolded in real-time over 6 weeks through voice notes, videos, photos and text messages sent between four best friends as they navigated an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis together. An audience of influencers, celebrities and real people joined a Whatsapp group to watch the series – sharing its content and sparking interactions on social.

Breast Cancer Now’s research identified that 2⁄3 women diagnosed with breast cancer feel unable to talk openly about their disease and strongly agree the UK needs to talk more openly about it. This campaign aimed to drive social change to help thousands of women affected by breast cancer to speak openly and avoid the emotional isolation that breast cancer can create.

To tackle the emotional isolation that thousands of women in their forties and fifties feel when diagnosed, Breast Cancer Now commissioned The Chat. As the UK’s first WhatsApp drama series, it was an innovative use of media. A mobile experience that delivered the key message: it’s important to talk openly about breast cancer.

This target audience routinely share intimate messages on WhatsApp, making this innovative media placement highly personal, engaging and unignorable. The audience also love getting lost in a drama series. This idea combined the two, blurring the lines between drama & reality.

The Chat supported Breast Cancer Now’s ongoing objective, to get the UK talking more openly about breast cancer. The strategy was to engage celebrities, influencers and members of the public to grab news headlines and spread awareness. A wealth of shareable content was created, alongside trailers. It was supported by news interviews to increase reach.

The Chat unfolded in real-time over 6 weeks through voice notes, videos, photos and text messages sent between four best friends as they navigated an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis together. An audience of influencers, celebrities and real people joined a Whatsapp group to watch the series – sharing its content and sparking interactions on social.

The famous cast donated their time and talent to bring The Chat to life. Their high profiles helped draw large numbers to watch the series - increasing earned media.

Content from the series is still being shared, and, like any good drama series, viewers can catch up online via an episodic version housed on a microsite.

The series was covered by mainstream media across the UK, including the nation’s biggest morning show Good Morning Britain, the hugely successful BBC talk show Woman’s Hour and the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster ITV’s flagship news programme.

The campaign has reached over 24.5 million people so far.

Earned media is £2.1 million & counting.

Conversation around Breast Cancer Now increased significantly & site traffic rose by 191% since The Chat launched.

To date, The Chat has clocked up over 23 minutes of airtime on the BBC, Britain’s non commercial national broadcaster. An almost unprecedented figure for a branded content series.

The drama series has also been covered by mainstream media across the UK, including the nation’s biggest morning show, Good Morning Britain, the hugely successful talk show Woman’s Hour and the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster ITV’s flagship news programme. Major newspaper titles, including the Evening Standard, Daily Mirror, the Daily Express and The Voice covered the series.

With a constant flow of positive tweets, likes, comments and shares across social platforms from people moved by the series, driving social change by normalising open conversation about breast cancer.

WhatsApp is the perfect place to get inside the hands, hearts and minds of the target audience, captivating them in an innovative way that feels genuine and relatable. Leveraging WhatsApp on mobile enabled Breast Cancer Now to connect with their audience far more intimately than if they’d been watching the series on TV.

The functionality of WhatsApp enhanced the authenticity of the drama. Text messages, voice notes, photos and videos were sent straight to people’s phones in real-time, which meant the audience felt like they were part of the friendship group, further amplifying the authenticity and power of the series.

In the UK, people are known for having a ‘stiff upper lip’, keeping themselves to themselves and not expressing how they really feel. This inherently British trait is

ingrained in society and contributes to thousands of women suffering in silence as they go through breast cancer.

Given that 1 woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 10 minutes in the UK, this is a serious issue. Often, people in the UK are more comfortable talking about personal matters through messaging, rather than in person. The Chat made use of this mobile media to engage people more intimately and encourage conversation in an innovative way.