Opened in January 2011, the Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center is the first of its kind in the Midwest to provide the full continuum of breast cancer care in a single facility – from prevention and screening through detection, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. The Breast Center is home to a multidisciplinary team of nationally renowned experts who focus specifically on breast cancer. Researchers and clinicians at the Breast Center also work on clinical trials and novel therapies to further their vision of a cancer-free world.
Such in-depth attention and knowledge is important to all women, particularly to those at a higher risk for breast cancer due to heredity and other factors.
Michael A. Caligiuri, MD, director of Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and CEO of the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, says, “Our breast radiologists at The James specialize in reading and interpreting only mammograms, and those trained eyes can mean the difference between breast cancers detected in their earliest phases and those that go undiagnosed.”
Jennifer Hargett, director of marketing and communications at the OSUCCC – James, observes, “Each patient is different, and our radiologists recognize that. Because they specialize in reading mammograms, they are able to detect the smallest nuance” that otherwise might be missed.
It’s important for all to know that there are no routine ways to prevent, detect, treat and cure breast cancer. Some “out-of-the-box” thinking was required to convey the idea that a mammogram at The James is anything BUT routine.
To create added awareness, “We approached CASTO about communicating the message throughout their shopping center parking lots and public spaces, where women might not normally expect to see it,” recalls David Schuller, MD, CEO emeritus of the OSUCCC – James. CASTO, a privately held real estate services firm established in Columbus, Ohio in 1926, has more than 23 million square feet of retail presence in 10 states and Puerto Rico. “Without a moment’s hesitation, Don Casto, Partner at CASTO, said, ‘Let’s go with it.’”
“CASTO is thrilled to share this venture with the James Cancer Hospital,” states Don Casto. “Cancer is an epidemic, and we are very fortunate to have The James in our backyard. If this is a way to help our community, creating more awareness, we’re more than willing to utilize our shopping centers as a message driver to the general public.”
The result was both eye-catching and compelling. Along with pole banners in eight Casto shopping centers around central Ohio, the line striping in the parking lots telegraphed scarlet and gray reminders. “It was part of a larger effort that included a Buckeye ‘Pink Game’ and promotions with Panera, Kroger and other local businesses and media” to raise awareness, Hargett explains, adding that everything from test drives to bagel purchases to gift cards were targeted to make women aware that they need to get a James mammogram.
For the Fall 2012 “No Routine Mammogram” campaign, the OSUCCC – James marketing team was awarded “gold” in the Total Advertising Campaign category for academic medical centers in the Cancer Awareness Advertising Awards, an international competition among hospitals, health systems and academic medical centers.
And even more importantly, the campaign paid off, resulting in monthly increases as high as 30 percent for clinical volume at the Breast Center. Additionally, the 2012 fall campaign reached nearly twice as many people as a campaign the previous spring.
CASTO will continue its long history of giving to Ohio State with plans to support the upcoming “No Routine Breast Cancer” campaign this spring. Along with being generous monetarily and in terms of advocacy, CASTO “supports new ideas and ingenuity so we can work toward providing the best and most innovative care possible,” making the company a natural partner for The James.