Using the power of PR and underpinned by a poignant creative platform, our campaign spanned the global business community and a consumer call to action to end the stigma of cancer in the workplace, globally. Starting with a call for support from the worldwide business community at Davos – resulting in 390 corporate pledge signees representing over 13 million employees – and building on that momentum with traditional PR tactics across paid & earned media including influencer strategies and a Super Bowl spot, the campaign drove high-impact awareness with over 295.4MM social impressions, and enlisted support from thousands of consumers.

When Publicis Groupe’s CEO Arthur Sadoun was diagnosed with cancer in 2022 and went public with his story, he received thousands of messages of support from employees. Through those conversations was the resounding message that in addition to being scared for their lives in the face of a cancer diagnosis, too many felt scared for their jobs and were often inclined to hide their illness from their employers. Further, many didn’t know about the resources that existed to help them through their treatment journey. Sadoun was inspired to develop a global initiative to reduce the stigma of dealing with cancer at work directly, and those serving as a caregiver for a loved one with a diagnosis. With that, Working with Cancer was launched to take concrete action and rally both the business community and consumers around supporting those managing chronic illness in the workplace.

Through our research, a series of sobering statistic emerged: 50% of people will have cancer in their lifetime, yet 50% of cancer patients are afraid to tell their employer about their diagnosis -- despite 92% feeling that support at work positively impacts their health.

Anchored in this stark reality, we developed a creative platform to support #workingwithcancer, rooted in the visual of a red semi-circle to signify the 50% of people who will be diagnosed in their lifetime. We invited corporate and consumer pledge supporters to use the semicircle “badge” in their social profiles & communications channels to drum up awareness and recognition. Further, we harnessed the power of creativity on World Cancer Day to issue a wake-up call through poignant films including ‘Monday’ and ‘WorkLife’ which depicted the often harrowing journey of cancer patients and the vital importance of workplace support.

We took a three-pronged approach to sharing #WorkingWithCancer globally.

First, we recruited leading cancer charities and organizations including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to join us in driving awareness and provoking action in the US, UK and France.

Next, we launched #workingwithcancer at Davos, calling on the world’s most influential companies and business leaders to pledge their commitment to building the most open, supportive and recovery-forward work cultures for their employees via concrete action including guaranteeing job security, career coaching and support for patients and caregivers, and more.

Finally, we accelerated momentum and adoption through a fully integrated consumer campaign supported by a full scale media and influencer strategy. We also became the first holding company to purchase a Super Bowl spot, bringing “Monday” to the masses to enlist consumer support.

Changing organizational policy starts from the top, so we started at Davos. We secured interviews with top journalists and business publications including Forbes, CNN and Fortune, enabling our CEO to tell the story of #workingwithcancer in his own words. We concurrently launched paid media timed to Davos with premium placements across C-Suite targeted newspapers, site takeovers, and donated B2B media featuring the “Work/Life” film in targeted online video and digital assets globally.

Phase two - the consumer campaign that encouraged everyone to build a more supportive workplace for cancer sufferers -- launched on January 31, timed to World Cancer Day (Feb 4) and the Super Bowl (Feb 12). $100M in donated media drove the message across Cinema, Print, Video, Social, Digital, Audio, and OOH - including prime placements in NYC’s Times Square,- and dozens of celebrity/influencers posting their support and encouraging their followers to join.

With the support of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and generous donated media from our partners, we drove a global, holistic campaign to drive necessary action against one of the biggest issues impacting cancer patients: Working with Cancer. Our 390 signees including Abbvie, Adobe, AXA, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, BT, Carrefour, Citi, Disney, EE, Google, Haleon, L’Oréal, Lloyd’s, LVMH, Marriott, McDonald’s, Meta, Mondelez, Microsoft, MSD, Nestlé, Orange, Omnicom, Pepsico, Reckitt, Renault Group, Sanofi, Toyota, Unilever, Verizon, and Walmart have pledged to end the stigma of cancer in the workplace, representing more than 13 million employees for whom tangible impact will be made.

The campaign permeated through the news and social stratosphere, Garnering over 295.4MM social impressions, including coverage across 179 articles spanning Forbes, Quartz, Elle, The Times, WSJ, CNN, Fortune and beyond. Our #workingwithcancer hashtag received more than 16.5MM potential impressions, with influencers and celebrities such as actress Sharon Stone, rap musician Shaggy, and bestselling author Alysia Helming joining the conversation.

On top of the social and organic success of the campaign, with the help of paid and donated media including a Super Bowl spot, Times Square OOH presence and beyond, 2 billion media impressions were generated.

Publicis is already building on the strong momentum of this #workingwithcancer launch is now scaling the campaign and work internally and across the broader business community with additional resources & partnerships slated to fuel its next phase of growth and impact.

This global call-to-action reaches across cultures & geographies with the purpose of ending the stigma of cancer at work. While everyone has a different personal reason for signing (https://www.workingwithcancerpledge.com/why-we-pledge), each pledge brings needed visibility to the issues cancer sufferers face in the workplace. 

Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun stated “It is a tough reality, but whether directly or indirectly, every one of us will have to confront cancer in our lives and in our workplaces. Companies have a key role to play in that. Working with Cancer is an increasingly important initiative, on a front that many businesses are already invested in. By making their existing efforts more accessible and visible, together we can reduce the anxiety and stigma of cancer in the workplace and positively impact our people’s health. Through a truly collaborative approach, a light lift from everyone becomes deep and lasting impact for cancer patients at work.”