For the seventh consecutive year, TRG coordinated the statewide Ovarian Cancer Awareness Campaign during the month of September. Education and awareness are two key elements to defeating Ovarian Cancer because its’ symptoms are subtle and can strike at any age, but, if detected at its earliest state, the five-year survival rate is more than 93%.

OvarianCancerAwareness.org is a coalition comprised of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, Inc. (NOCC), The Ovarian Cancer Education and Awareness Network at Massachusetts General Hospital (OCEAN), The Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, the Dana-Farber/Brigham & Women’s Cancer Center and The M. Patricia Cronin Foundation to Fight Ovarian Cancer, Inc. (Cronin Foundation). This year, OvarianCancerAwareness.org was proud to add a new member to the coalition, Ovations for the Cure.

The statewide campaign whose core foundation is based upon an intensive television, internet and radio education effort, also utilizes untraditional means to augment its’ messaging.

The "Teal Ribbon” is the nationally recognized symbol for awareness and support in the fight against Ovarian Cancer. To magnify and promote the message of the teal ribbon, TRG developed a grassroots component for the campaign which utilized creative visibility mechanisms to brand the color “teal” and spread awareness of Ovarian Cancer. We turned to some of the state’s most prominent landmarks and had them illuminated in teal lights for the duration of Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. These landmarks included: The Leonard P. Zakim/Bunker Hill Bridge, The Basketball Hall of Fame, The Bank of America Pavilion and the Hyatt-Regency in Cambridge.

Another major objective of this year’s campaign was to target young women and provide them with information about ovarian cancer. Working with the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, letters and emails were sent to Athletic Directors encouraging their women’s sports teams to participate in the campaign by wearing teal sweat bands with the OCA logo during their fall season and at all games. A total of 6,000 sweatbands and hand cards were distributed to over 30 schools statewide.

OvarianCancerAwareness.org also partnered with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to distribute informational hand cards. Over 10,000 hand cards were distributed to motorists through the Weston toll plaza, the Newton/Boston/Weston toll plaza and the Allston/Brighton toll plaza.

Overall, through all of the campaign outreach components, over 14 million gross impressions were generated regarding ovarian cancer awareness.