Mammography exams are often emotional and stressful for women, and their frustrations can be doubled when traditional x-ray equipment cannot accurately interpret results. This why Telus, with a new ‘Go Pink’ campaign, will donate money to health centres across Canada to go towards the purchase of digital mammography equipment that can be more accurate and aid in the early detection of breast cancer, explains Anne-Marie LaBerge, VP, Telus Customer Solutions.

‘We truly believe that the success of our business is directly linked with the health of our communities,’ Laberge tells MiC, about the fundraising that will benefit eight hospitals and health organizations across Canada, including the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax and Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation in Toronto. For every pink BlackBerry Curve or new Pearl smartphone sold, the brand will donate $25 towards the purchase of digital mammography equipment for those locations.

The ‘Go Pink’ campaign, for which creative is developed by Taxi Toronto and media handled by Media Experts, will feature traditional executions targeting women including women’s magazines and OOH posters in fitness centres across the country, says LaBerge. Advertisements will launch in market later this month, with the greatest push delivered closer to Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. But the main strategy of rallying as many consumers behind the campaign as possible will be through a social media/viral campaign, which will be unveiled next month, she says.

‘If we want to transform breast cancer prevention in Canada, we need to have incredible support from the Canadian population,’ she says. ‘It has to appeal to women specifically, it has to be a campaign that you will want to share. So what we would want is for Canadian women to become ambassadors of this campaign.’