May was Melanoma Awareness Month, and UK charity Melanoma Focus ran a huge campaign to get the word out to the public about skin cancer. Campaign Collective led and delivered on media relations activity for the month by developing a UK-wide campaign based on several high impact news stories. The charity was thrilled to get fantastic coverage in the national press, and on radio and television, with a total reach of over 70 million.
Melanoma Focus is a national charity, providing support and information to patients, carers and professionals. It also commissions and funds vital research into this form of skin cancer. Melanoma Awareness Month is a crucial time to spread the word about this deadly yet preventable disease, to counteract ignorance and misinformation. We helped the charity to get stories in the media (including Sky News and as lead stories on BBC’s Look North and Northern Ireland’s news programmes) highlighting the ways that the public can prevent melanoma, as well as how to spot the early signs. We were immensely proud to be able to support the charity in this way.
86% of cases of melanoma are preventable yet increasing numbers of people are being diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer. There are now more than 16,000 new cases each year in the UK. The campaign by Melanoma Focus aims to encourage everyone to be sun-safe, and for anyone who has noticed changes in their skin to contact their GP immediately, stressing the importance of early detection and diagnosis in order to save lives.