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.

How we view healthcare and each other's well being is constantly changing. Not too long ago, conversations around mental health, and especially mental health in the workplace, were taboo. Now, companies often make sure there are mental health resources readily available, both confidentially and publicly. Coming out of the pandemic, talking about physical health also became a topic of conversation. Employees encouraged their fellow colleagues to take time off when needed and be open if they weren’t feeling well.

These changes are a positive for society to show how we care for one another. But the topic of cancer remains stigmatized. That stigma keeps patients quiet and fearful. Without the openness that other healthcare topics have recently received, it damages employees' relationships with their work, their coworkers, employers and even with their own care, as they potentially try to minimize the effects this life-altering disease has on their lives.

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.

Led by our thought-provoking stat that 50% of people will have cancer in their lifetimes, we used a two-pronged approach. First, we recruited credible partners, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), for a campaign which ran in the US, UK and France. Secondly, we launched a campaign to build awareness and provoke action. #workingwithcancer is a campaign calling companies to make public pledges to fight cancer and its stigmas in the workplace.

We focused on reaching the leadership of the world’s largest companies in order to make the biggest real-world impact. We knew that changing a company’s policies worked top-down, so we targeted leadership via specific comms. We also wanted to create mass awareness to spur conversation in the workplace and ensure coverage against smaller businesses where employees are more closely connected to top leadership and can spur change to happen more quickly.

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.

Our 390 pledge signees include Fortune 100 companies, all of whom have committed to ending the stigma of working with cancer. These 390 pledgees represent, in total, over 13M employees who will be impacted by this work. Additionally, across earned media, the campaign garnered over 295.4MM impressions, including being covered in Forbes, CNN and Fortune, and on the social front, our #workingwithcancer hashtag received more than 16.5MM potential impressions.

Coming off of this first campaign phase, Publicis has appointed a project lead and intends to continue recruiting pledge sign ups, provide a list of actions and resources for pledge signees, and working to reduce the stigma for a mass audience with further campaign phases.

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.”