Highly commended
#🍑IYKYK — European Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Summary of work
When colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in Europe, and early diagnosis delivers a 90% five-year survival rate, awareness isn't optional. It's urgent. Yet for a generation of younger Europeans who don't see CRC as their problem, health campaigns have long struggled to cut through. The facts were known. They just weren't landing.
For European Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month (ECCAM) 2025, GCI Health partnered with non-profit Digestive Cancers Europe (DiCE) to rethink the approach entirely. #🍑IYKYK (If You Know, You Know) was a bold, patient-led social media campaign that flipped the script: instead of broadcasting statistics to an audience primed to scroll past, we handed the mic to four people in their 20s and 30s living with CRC, and let them own the conversation.
The result was DiCE's most successful campaign ever: 2.5M+ reach, 60K+ engagements, a 9% average Instagram engagement rate four times the industry average, and follower growth of 18.5% on Instagram against a 1.1% industry benchmark. Sixteen of DiCE's 26 European member organisations activated locally. CRC awareness, it turns out, is contagious when you tell the truth.
Judges’ comments
This entry from GCI Health and DiCE was a successful campaign which clearly understood its audience and where best to reach them, and clearly hit their objectives. The use of personal stories stood out in this campaign and they understood the strength these could have. It had a compelling need and bold creative strategy with strong implementation. Outputs are impressive in reach and engagement. It was excellent for awareness and cultural cut‑through.
