Here's what it takes to launch a successful Skin Cancer Awareness Month
Every May, for Skin Cancer Awareness Month, the AAD launches an awareness campaign to educate the public about skin cancer prevention and early detection. The SPOT Skin Cancer™ campaign continues to be a success, reaching millions of individuals each year with key messages that emphasize the importance of using sun protection and seeing a board-certified dermatologist for suspicious moles or lesions.
Since 1985, the Academy has educated Americans about the dangers of skin cancer. Every year, its Skin Cancer Awareness Month efforts generate more knowledge from the public around the expertise of dermatologists and your role in treating skin cancer. The Academy knows that sun-safety must be practiced year-round, which is why it educates the public about skin cancer prevention and early detection 365 days a year.
In this DermWorld Weekly interview with Carrie Kovarik, MD, FAAD, chair of the AAD Council on Communications, and Nicole Dobkin, the AAD’s public relations manager, we learn what it takes to create and execute a successful skin cancer awareness campaign year after year.
DermWorld Weekly: During a time when the nation is recognizing Skin Cancer Awareness Month, what’s unique about the Academy’s efforts and how do they meet the mark of both educating the public and positioning the specialty?
Dr. Kovarik: During Skin Cancer Awareness Month, the Academy uses many different tools and modalities to educate the public and position the specialty. In order to reach the most people possible, the Academy has ensured that key messages are delivered through many different platforms and outlets. From YouTube videos, infographics, web content, social media posts, broadcast media interviews, and much more, the Academy strives to deliver information to all people that will help them understand how to best protect themselves from the sun when outdoors. The campaign also emphasizes that board-certified dermatologists are the experts in skin cancer, and those with additional questions about their skin or skin care should seek their advice.
DermWorld Weekly: Launching the AAD’s SPOT Skin Cancer campaign is a collaborative effort. While AAD staff execute and monitor the campaign’s efforts, AAD members, notably those on the AAD’s Council on Communications, lead and guide the Academy to ensure the campaign’s success. Tell us more about those collaborative efforts and how AAD members’ participation in the SPOT Skin Cancer Campaign are invaluable every year.
Dobkin: Put simply, we would not have a campaign without our members’ invaluable contributions, and those contributions start long before our campaign does — in the office caring for patients. It is those interactions — those compelling patient stories — that ultimately help shape our campaign and help us generate media coverage and awareness that inspires and encourages others to prevent skin cancer, detect it early, and/or seek care from an FAAD.
“Put simply, we would not have a campaign without our members’ invaluable contributions, and those contributions start long before our campaign does — in the office caring for patients.”
Prior to launching the campaign, we ask members of the Academy’s Media Expert Team to connect us with skin cancer patients who might be interested in sharing their stories during media interviews. And every year, our members deliver. This year, thanks to the stories provided to us by our members, we were able to line up dermatologists and skin cancer patients for media interviews in eight cities across the U.S. A few stories that were covered in national news include a woman who lost one of her toes to melanoma (CBS); a woman who went in for a face mask rash and discovered she had melanoma on her foot (TODAY.com); and a single father of three battling stage III melanoma (TODAY.com). All of these patients are grateful for the care provided to them by their dermatologists and eager to share their stories with others to help save lives. Sharing these stories with Academy staff so that we can promote them to the media is one of the most important and meaningful ways that members contribute to the campaign’s success each year.
Patients share their stories
The Academy is always looking for more stories. If you have skin cancer patients, please ask them to share their stories with us at AAD.org/yourstory.
Dr. Kovarik: As Nicole mentioned, the AAD members and patient stories really drive the campaign. When a patient describes what they have been through due to skin cancer, others can often connect. Patients often want to share their stories to help others detect skin cancer early. This is a powerful way to deliver a message because first-person stories are impactful and help build a community among survivors. Our members also participate in the AAD’s SPOT Skin Cancer campaign by sharing AAD-produced educational materials with patients such as the YouTube videos and infographics. I’ve personally even directed my patients to aad.org/public for more information on hundreds of skin, hair, and nail conditions. The AAD also hosts Skin Cancer, Take a Hike!™ and equips members with tools to help them create their own teams to help raise necessary funds during Skin Cancer Awareness Month.
DermWorld Weekly: A large part of the AAD’s SPOT Skin Cancer campaign is the media relations efforts that position dermatologists as experts in the news. Whether being quoted in publications like the Washington Post, HealthDay, and WebMD or spotlighted on broadcast news outlets like NBC News or the TODAY Show, the Academy’s robust media relations efforts have led to its key messages being heard billions of times year after year. Why is it important to raise awareness about skin cancer prevention and early detection in the news, and why does the Academy continue to prioritize media relations efforts?
Dr. Kovarik: As I mentioned before, it’s very important to diversify the way we distribute our key messages. We want to reach people inclusive of all socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, geography, disability, and age. Skin cancer can occur in anyone, and we want to make sure that everyone understands their risk, how to best detect and prevent it, and where to find a board-certified dermatologist should they need further assistance. In order to accomplish this, a robust media effort that targets national outlets, as well as a diverse array of radio, television, and print messaging is required. In 2021, our SPOT Skin Cancer campaign news coverage was seen more than 1.4 billion times and counting!
DermWorld Weekly: Can you shed light on other tactics the Academy executes to raise awareness during Skin Cancer Awareness Month? Tell us more about how the AAD’s SPOT Skin Cancer campaign is a multifaceted one, encompassing social media tactics and video debuts to tout key messages about skin cancer prevention and detection.
Dobkin: Absolutely. The Academy’s SPOT Skin Cancer campaign features a variety of communications and marketing tactics to reach a wide audience and maximize awareness, including media relations, social media, and content marketing, such as video and web page development. In addition to PR tactics such as press releases distributed to the media and a radio media tour, the campaign features a strong social media component with more than 400 @AADSkin posts throughout the month including new, innovative content such as an Instagram Live interview (viewable on IGTV), Instagram reels, features from the Social Media Ambassador Team within Instagram stories, and an Instagram giveaway that received more than 500 entries. Last July, we also debuted a new skin cancer awareness PSA campaign on social media targeting a diverse audience of men and women ages 18-25 with a sun protection message.
DermWorld Weekly: Would you say that launching a comprehensive campaign that incorporates a number of proven tactics beyond media relations is a strategy to reach a broader audience? Tell us what our reach looks like on social media during Skin Cancer Awareness Month for example.
“Our mission is twofold: we want to encourage people to prevent skin cancer and detect it early, when it’s most treatable.”
Dobkin: Definitely, and reaching a broad audience is particularly important when it comes to skin cancer awareness because our mission is twofold: we want to encourage people to prevent skin cancer and detect it early, when it’s most treatable. Since most Millennials and Gen Z, for example, get their news and information from social media versus traditional media outlets like the TODAY Show, being on channels like Facebook and Instagram and engaging with these audiences on topics such as sun protection and skin cancer prevention is really important. It’s also why we included our hashtag in our campaign theme, #PracticeSafeSun, the last couple of years — because we want people, particularly younger demographics, to engage with it and find stats and tips that encourage them to take steps to prevent skin cancer.
In 2021, our efforts on social media resulted in more than 2.2 million impressions across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and 1,712 uses of the #PracticeSafeSun hashtag). In addition, our public social media accounts gained more than 3,000 new followers during the month of May, with Instagram in particular growing by 4.5%.
DermWorld Weekly: All in all, both of you have been leading the Academy’s SPOT Skin Cancer campaign for many years. What are your favorite moments, and what new elements do you bring to the table every year to keep the campaign fresh and new?
Dobkin: I’ve been fortunate enough to work on eight SPOT Skin Cancer campaigns, and there have been a lot of great moments along the way. One that stands out was when we developed and sent tattoo sleeves, available in light and dark skin tones, to national and local morning news and talk shows that visualize what the ABCDEs of melanoma look like on a person’s skin. Our creativity paid off when — on Melanoma Monday® — Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest put the tattoo sleeves on and talked about the importance of skin cancer prevention and detection on “LIVE with Kelly and Ryan”— one of the top-rated daytime talk shows with more than 2.5 million viewers. We were thrilled.
Another time was when we worked with the TODAY Show to publish a story about how one of our members — Dr. Jennifer Mancuso — spotted a melanoma on a friend’s grandfather while scrolling Instagram. She immediately reached out and connected the family with dermatologists in their area for treatment. The story was so compelling that several other media outlets, including PEOPLE magazine, published their own articles on the story, too.
We’re always asking ourselves what new elements we can bring to the table to keep the campaign fresh and new every year. This conversation has resulted in radio media tours, social media ambassadors, and even surveys to learn more about the public’s sun protection habits. How we can we publicize the data we receive in a catchy, yet meaningful way? What other items can we send to the media to get their attention and cut through the clutter? What patient stories do our members have, and how can we best highlight them? Every year, we focus on making the campaign bigger and stronger, and these efforts resulted in a record-breaking 2.8 billion media impressions in 2020. (Metrics for the 2021 campaign will be pulled later this year).
Dr. Kovarik: I don’t think any of us can say we haven’t been affected by skin cancer personally. In 2013, one of my best friends from college told me that her dad was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma to the brain. He was treated by an incredible team of doctors at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and during the 2015 SPOT Skin Cancer campaign, I asked him if he would write a reflection to share with others. He wrote an incredible story of compassion and love, and said, “I was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma: a relentless disease. I am overcoming it thanks to my faith, great doctors, family, and friends.” He was a part of the #LookingGoodin2016 campaign. Although he passed in 2017, the story he shared stays with me and many others.
