Has “_melanoma” been liking your posts? ♥
If so… how are you feeling?
Aware…
Conscious…
Like ‘Big Brother’ is watching you?
Or are you just a little bit like me, and extremely impressed that there is finally a campaign by Melanoma Patients Australia that is utilising the advantage of social media to make a difference in Australia by identifying a growing issue and creating a solution to the much-needed awareness around the risk of skin cancer amongst the demographic of 15 – 30 years old, who are fast joining the increasing rank of melanoma sufferers in Australia? See the campaign below:
Gone, it seems are the days that melanoma is considered an older person’s disease, because like many of you out there, I too am one of the ever-growing statistics of young people who suffer from this disease. I may not be as young anymore like the age group before me, but I certainly am now far more aware of how extremely important it is to convey this message to ‘young people’ and the need to be aware of the damaging effects of our beloved sun!
Remember… IT ALL ADDS UP!
This campaign isn’t about nanny-ing our population but really about sending home a message to an age group, that let’s face it, are learning to come into their own and who are often swayed by social media trends and images sprawled throughout our media (online and in magazines). In our social media world of selfies, and photo-savvy social media addicts (“Hi, I am Kathy Gardiner and I am addicted to social media!!!”), there has never been a time more visually appealing and influential than right now with social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook!
The Inspiration Room recently highlighted the success of _melanoma Likes Me campaign by highlighting the technical achievements of a campaign of this nature:
“Melanoma Likes Me, a digital advertising campaign from Melanoma Patients Australia, has won the Grand Prix for Good at Spikes Asia, alongside Gold for Direct, Media, and Promo & Activation. An online persona was created for Melanoma, making it possible for the skin cancer Instagram account and Twitter account to like, follow and comment on the social media activity of young Australians spending time in the sun. A unique algorithm found and responded to popular hashtags and geo-located images. It sent millions of tailored messages, straight to our hard-to-reach audience; right when it could make the most difference. By clicking on the profile they could check for melanomas and learn about prevention.
George Patterson Y&R used the Instagram API “location” and “tag” endpoints, and the Twitter API “search” endpoint, to retrieve recent post data based on relevant geolocations and hashtags. Both APIs returned JSON-encoded post data, which was deserialised and cached on the Melanoma Prevention server. Retrieved post data was compared to existing cached data to find new posts, and the social media team was notified of updates in real-time. The campaign rolled out predominantly across Instagram and Twitter, whilst Melanoma also had a presence on Facebook.”
Developed locally in Australia by the team at George Patterson Y&R the campaign highlights the importance of awareness while providing much-needed sun safety information.
If _melanoma likes your next social media posting, perhaps instead of quaffing at the rudeness that you have been potentially “spammed by a do-gooder” maybe take a moment to really understand that there is a far more important message behind the smartly written tags of “_melanoma likes tanners” because we all know if you get sunburnt and you hashtag #melanoma for jokes, then my dear Naked, you definitely have some learning to do!
And as I often say, “Do not fear the sun; be mindful and respect the environment you are in”! And more than anything, LOVE the skin you are in!!!
Support this campaign and get behind sun protection awareness! Please share to make this campaign known amongst your social circles!
Love, light and sun protection xx
Photo and Video kindly provided by Melanoma Patients Australia
