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May 2008 - Strategy Magazine
Special report

cause + action winner - Pantene
Going to beautiful lengths

by Carey Toane
page 24

Knowing how devastating hair loss can be for women undergoing chemotherapy, Procter & Gamble Canada partnered with the Canadian Cancer Society to support these women during the fight of their lives. Building on the success of an American program, P&G used Pantene, the number-one hair care brand in Canada, to help cancer patients regain some of their dignity and self-esteem.

Inspiration

According to the Canadian Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute of Canada, an estimated 77,200 Canadian women will be diagnosed with cancer in 2007, and one in three will develop some form of cancer in her lifetime. U.S. figures show that 58% of women consider hair loss to be the worst side effect of chemotherapy, and 8% are at risk of avoiding potentially life-saving treatment because of their fear of losing their hair.

After seeing these numbers, the Pantene team knew they had an opportunity to help. Since wigs made of real hair can be expensive, Pantene Beautiful Lengths was born. The initiative enables women to contribute to the solution by donating their ponytails and help make wigs more accessible to those who need them.

Execution and marketing efforts

Pantene Beautiful Lengths kicked off in Canada in October 2007 with a $100,000 donation to the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). Winning the CCS's support and partnership was a great indicator of the value the society saw in the program. Media partners included Cineplex, CanWest, Sun Media and Metro.

Hilary Swank was asked to be the North American spokesperson and lead the campaign by inspiring women everywhere to donate their hair to the cause. To get the ball rolling, the actress cut her own ponytail off live on Oprah on Nov. 2.

A print ad by Grey NYC featuring Swank and asking women to consider donating their hair ran in beauty and fashion mags and national papers, as well as Metro, 24 Hours and Reader's Digest.

To drive broad-scale awareness, P&G aired a 45-second TV commercial called "Dolls," in which a little girl cuts off her dolls' hair to give to her mother, who has lost her own due to cancer treatments. The spot ends by inviting viewers to go online for information on how to donate their ponytails. Created by Grey NYC, "Dolls" ran on traditional and specialty TV stations, and also aired on Cineplex screens and in thousands of doctors' offices across the country.

At retail, from October to December, 2,000 Pantene displays featured the program message - more than any other Pantene initiative in the past year. Shoppers Drug Mart created a program in which consumers received extra Optimum points for purchasing Pantene products and then donated the points to charity. Wal-Mart showed "Dolls" in-store on its shelf screens and distributed information about the program to shoppers.

An extensive PR campaign by Manning Selvage & Lee for magazines and dailies was exceedingly well-received. Juliette Lie of Flare donated her hair as part of an article that ran in the magazine. An internal launch at P&G that saw 16 employees make the cut amid tears and cheers was covered by media including the Toronto Sun, CBC News and CityTV.

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