Breast Cancer Awareness

October is dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness, a cause near and dear to my heart because my mother is a survivor.

So, I was particularly moved by a new campaign for BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts that broke this week, Isabel's Story. In the spirit of full disclosure, BCBSMA is a long-time client of my employer, PARTNERS+simons, and I participated in the campaign development. It consists of TV & radio spots, billboards, print, and online advertising, all driving to a microsite that houses a full-length video and links to various breast cancer resources and information.

While I'm proud of our efforts on the campaign, the real star of the show is Isabel, a local woman that was diagnosed with the disease at age 28, went through chemotherapy, and has been cancer-free for a year now. She is beautiful, confident, and strong, and was kind enough to share her story  not only with us but with all of the residents of Massachusetts. If you live in this state you'll surely see lots of Isabel in the coming weeks.

And you're likely to see a lot of other great cause marketing initiatives this month. Among them:

On October 2nd, Yahoo!turned its home page pink for the whole day in support of Estee Lauder's Global Landmarks Illumination Initiative -- the illumination of worldwide landmarks in pink lights to raise awareness about breast cancer.

Yoplait continues its Save Lids to Save Lives Annual Drive, with the goal of donating  $3 million to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Campbell's Soup replaced its ubiquitous red-and-white cans with pink and white versions and doubled sales of its top varieties at its biggest retailer, Kroger. Campbell's will donate $250,000, or roughly 3.5 cents per pink can, to the Susan G. Komen Foundation through Kroger in exchange for its doubled order.

As part of Shopintuition's Thinking of Pink promotion, they will donate a portion of proceeds to breast cancer research, and shoppers can get 20% off all orders this month using the promo code "awareness" at purchase.

Coach offers up its own pink accessories and donations to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation while Target has an array of products for the cause as well. And Kerry Purcell chronicles dozens more options to shop for the cure in a recent Boston Herald article.

Together, these initiatives (and many, many more) are building awareness and providing investments in much needed research, education, screening and treatment for this disease that affects roughly one in eight women in their lifetime. Think Pink.