Finalist
The Smear Word
Summary of work
With one in four young women missing their cervical screening appointments, social media, influencers and streaming were the perfect mediums to confront their anxieties head-on and help prevent 2,000 UK deaths each year.
Our all-female team was determined to deliver social & digital engagement that would hit close to home for our 25-29 year old target audience. The Smear Word is the result – an uncompromising, frank look at the ‘ick’ factor inspired in equal parts by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and the extraordinary work of Jo’s Trust, our third-sector partner.
Regionally targeted, this digitallyled, inclusive campaign empowers young people with a cervix to ‘own it, don’t postpone it’. Social ads urge young people to confront their ‘smear fear’ with honest explorations of their anxieties and simple tips to overcome them.
Our campaign film – produced by a majority female crew – offers a funny, unflinching look at the awkwardness of the screening process, but ultimately offers reassurance and a demystification of the test.
This campaign is already overcoming barriers: more than half of people who saw it said it had encouraged them to attend their next smear test. But we think this is just the start of a campaign that we’re
Judges’ comments
The Smear Word was a creative programme with solid situational analysis. It had smart channel use, good awareness and hit the right tone. This important campaign was quirky and distinct and the strategy was underpinned by robust behaviour change.
