Acon The Inner Circle

When it comes to cervical cancer, LGBTIQ communities are a priority population, yet are often left out of mainstream health messages. It was crucial the campaign reached not just ‘lesbians’ but the full spectrum of LGBTIQ people with a cervix. It had to reflect the diversity and address the barriers and misconceptions faced by this group. The ultimate goal was to increase the rate of cervical screening in the LGBTIQ community in NSW.

The campaign concept of “The Inner Circle” speaks to both the cervix as a body part as well as a trusted social circle. This worked as a platform to start a conversation around cervical cancer in the LGBTIQ community and to create a consistent campaign message across multiple channels. At the core of the campaign are a series of videos with a cross section of community ambassadors from the LGBTIQ community sharing their personal experiences with cervical screening and cervical cancer. ACON also created “Check OUT” a free and confidential cervical and STI screening clinic for LGBTIQ people.

The campaign has been praised for its diversity and inclusivity and most importantly embraced by the LGBTIQ community and is generating the conversations we hoped for. Comments on social media include; “Thank you. This campaign has convinced my best friend to finally go and have her first test and I'm so proud” & “So great! Will be sharing this to my inner circle.”

Campaign videos have been shared hundreds of times and generated close to 100,000 views. The website has around 2500 visitors a month and Check OUT, the ACON community clinic is currently booked out 3 months in advance.

This ground breaking campaign was the first large-scale, multi-platform effort to introduce the changes to the cervical screening program to any community across Australia. The Inner Circle aims to celebrate and acknowledge diverse bodies, genders and sexualities within all LGBTIQ communities. In doing so we are saying that every body is unique, but also, every body with a cervix needs a Cervical Screening Test. It is a call to action – talk to your inner circle and get involved in this important health program.

The visual design is based around a contemporary graphic mark to represent the cervix, with the colours based on the pride rainbow. The campaign strategy at its core was based around authenticity and raw, real stories that gave a genuine representation of the LGBTIQ community. It was critical for the campaign to create a strong connection, social share-ability and drive action.

The campaign has been embraced by the LGBTIQ community with comments such as “how bloody amazing is it for #theinnercircle to have these billboards!” and “Because of these vids, I finally went and had a pap smear that I had been putting off and putting off, two days ago.” Since launch the launch in February 2018 has had a combined reach of close to 1million people.

Completed while at Bench Creative
Strategy: James Cooper
Creative Direction: Penny Ransby
Art Direction: Monica Lawrie
Design: Liana Lewis
Video: Dara Gill
Photography: Mel Hird