The Brill Building, the creative agency Headed up by Roisin Keown, Dan Henson and Peter Snodden, has launched a new campaign for Breakthrough Cancer Research to mark National Cancer Survivors Day this year and to highlight the need for greater investment in cancer research.
The campaign sees the launch of a new county in Ireland called Saolfada, the county of survivors, a name derived from the Irish word for “long life.” The population of Saolfada is over 200,000 and the “aim” of the new county is to “represent and celebrate a population that has survived and lived longer thanks to scientific innovation and cancer research. It could be the fastest growing county in Ireland with greater investment in R&D for cancer.” The honorary mayor of Saolfada is former Lord Mayor of Cork, John Buttimer while its ambassador of culture is Lord of the Dance creator, Michael Flatley.
“Today is a day to celebrate survival. There are 200,000 survivors in Ireland, including me, thanks to innovations in medicine and cancer research, and that’s just incredible,” says Flatley. “Let’s help Breakthrough increase the population of Co. Saolfada by supporting more research! Everyone diagnosed with cancer could one day live there.”
The campaign was created by The Brill Building’s Roisin Keown, Dan Henson and Peter Snodden while director of photography was Ross O’Callaghan. Others involved in the inter-agency team included The Element, PR firm ETC and digital agency Irish Media Agency. Fluent Communications, meanwhile, handled the media.
In addition to creating the new county for the charity, The Brill Building has designed a crest for Co. Saolfada with the motto ‘Survive All’, along with county sports jerseys for survivors in partnership with t-shirt firm Hairy Baby.
The campaign launched with a Co. Saolfada film featuring cancer survivors and a road sign ambient activation, twinning Ireland’s biggest counties with the population of 200,000 cancer survivors.
“This is another important project that further emphasizes the pioneering ethos of Breakthrough Cancer Research. Their work has innovative, positivity and ingenuity at its core and that inspires us to have our communications for them do the same. Creating Saolfada, The County That Nearly Wasn’t is a way to celebrate Ireland’s 200,000 cancer survivors. Recovery from cancer can often be extremely challenging – something finding better treatments from research can improve – but survival is always something to be celebrated,” says Roisin Keown, ECD, The Brill Building.
Orla Dolan, CEO of Breakthrough Cancer Research adds: “There are now 200,000 cancer survivors in Ireland, living with or beyond cancer, enough to make up the population of Cork City or the counties of Kildare, Limerick or Meath. We should aim to add at least 80,000 more residents to Co. Saolfada in the next 10 years. With more research and better treatments, we could save many more of the 9,000 who still die from cancer each year in Ireland. Everyone diagnosed with cancer should get the opportunity to live there.
“To help us achieve this ambitious goal, we are asking for the support of the public and government for greater investment in cancer research, to help make more survivors of cancer. Sadly, everyone in Ireland is related to someone from Co. Saolfada, so if every adult donated just €5 in their name to cancer research this week, it would raise €20 million. This would mean that we could give the green light to four new clinical trials, three strategic research programmes and 12 translational and lab-based multi-year research projects throughout the country focused on early diagnostics, immunotherapy, overcoming treatment resistance, precision oncology, novel therapeutics,” she says.
For more information visit www.countyaolfada.ie
Credits
Agency: The Brill Building
Concept: Roisin Keown, Peter Snodden, Dan Henson
E.C.D.: Roisin Keown
Art Directors: Peter Snodden, Dan Henson
Production: The Brill Building
D.O.P.: Ross O’Callaghan
Post-Production: The Element
Sound: Locky Butler
CEO: Orla Dolan Breakthrough
Head of Fundraising: Eoghan O’Sullivan
Head of Marketing: Linda O’Connell
PR: Niamh Murphy E-T-C
Social & Digital: Emmet McNally Irish Media Agency
Media: Donogh O’Herlihy Fluent Communications
