WRITING FOR CREATIVE

INDUSTRIES - PROPOSAL
ORGANIZATION : SINGAPORE CANCER SOCIETY (SCS)

NAH MIN NING

T104
S10172472A
Proposition:

This proposal aims to heighten youths knowledge on cancer and the importance of
cancer screenings, especially when they age. This is achieved through outdoor advertisements,
a social media campaign and by publishing online posters on the schools learning portal and
website.

(P1) Preface

There is a lack of accurate knowledge of cancer and the importance of cancer screenings
as youths age. There are many prevalent misconceptions relating to the curability, symptoms,
types of cancer and how susceptible one is to cancer. According to cancer.org, general
screenings for when the youths transcend into adulthood are under-valued since cancer is not
pervasive among youths (Cancer in Adolescents).

This means that youths might grow up thinking that cancer screenings are unnecessarily
emphasised on. This would result in them not willing to go for cancer screenings when they
are older, and they might not know what steps to take up should they get inflicted by it one
day. Henceforth, they might not attend screenings when they are older, since they think that
cancer is not part of their "family trait. Furthermore, should youths get stricken with cancer
one day, they might decide not to proceed with treatment for fear of it being too costly or have
the perception that it is incurable regardless.

In a nutshell, having a media campaign would undoubtedly benefit the NGO, Singapore
Cancer Society(SCS) by heightening Singaporean youths recognition and understanding of
cancer and the organisation through extensive media coverage. The possible campaigns are
advertising on the street, advertising through social media campaigns and the mass distribution
of online posters to youths through their respective educational institutions website. In doing
so, this proposal aims for SCS to expand its reach in educating more youths on cancer and
cultivating a sense of importance of cancer screenings especially when they age.
(P2) Position

Currently, there is a lack of apprehension in Singaporeans youths on the importance of

going for cancer screenings as they grow older due to two main reasons. Firstly, Singaporean
youths have a lack of accurate cognizance on cancer and their susceptibility level of being
diagnosed with cancer. For instance, the train of thought that one is one is improbable to getting
cancer if it does not exist within ones family line is a grave yet common misconception. In
fact, the percentage of cancers that occur due to a genetic relation is only a mere five percent
(Bollinger). According to an article from The Straits Times in 2014, cancer is on the rise in
Singapore, primarily due to bad lifestyle habits such as smoking. While, smoking rates are
decreasing on a whole across the nation, more youths are picking up this debilitating habit.
This suggests that youths may not understand the severity of how their negative habits may
lead to cancer (Lai). Putting that aside, Singaporean youths may be reluctant to go for
screenings when they are older as they may have an overestimation on the cost of cancer
treatments and may be unsure how to proceed on if they get cancer. In fact, in a survey done
by The Straits Times, 83.4% of the participants deny screenings for fear that it would be too
expensive (Poon). This survey highlights a possible problem that may become a reality in the
future - youths who are uneducated on the expenses of screenings; may transcend into
adulthood refusing cancer screenings for fear that the cost would be too gargantuan. Secondly,
the thought that cancer is incurable and that one would die from it regardless of whether they
went for screenings, is a common but fallacious notion among cancer victims (Soo).

While Singapore Cancer Society (SCS) does have its fair share of successes when it
comes to reaching out to the public, it is not quite as accustomed to reaching out to the youth.
In 2016, SCS held its eighth inaugural race against cancer, in collaboration with SingTel telco.
6,000 entrants partook in the race, garnering over S$1 million for cancer victims and their
family (Home Briefs). The fact that this has taken place again annually for the eighth year in a
row suggests that it had been triumphant in garnering support in its previous years, hence the
reason for its reoccurrence. Working in tandem with World No Tobacco Day for the first time
in 2016, SCS aims to reach out to the youth to promote a smoke-free lifestyle with the aim of
preventing lung cancer. The fact that it is the first time these two organisations have
collaborated suggests that Singapore Cancer Society may not have been up to date with
correcting youth smoking problems, which may lead to cancer (Ng). In this campaign, SCS
worked with a multitude of secondary schools and polytechnics island wide. This suggests that
SCS has the capability to reach out to a sizeable audience.
(P3) Problem / Potential

Inculcating and adopting a belief starts from a young age. During their teenage years,
the youth is the most impressionable. However, Singapore Cancer Society (SCS)s campaigns
do not make a concerted effort to target the youth, and youths overlook the importance of
cancer screening due to the following two reasons. Firstly, they have the deluded perception
that cancer screenings are irrelevant to them since they are at the pinnacle of their health. As
cancer tend to be uncommon in those under forty, its' warning signs tend to be ignored as other
minor issues. For instance, blood in the stool may be dismissed as piles instead of colorectal
cancer (Young at risk of colon cancer too 14-15). Furthermore, there is no emphasis for
screening tests for the youths as cancers are not a predominant issue between the ages of 15-
19 (Cancer in Adolescents). The lack of emphasis ingrains the perception that cancer
screenings are unimportant. Besides, the bulk of campaigns by SCS are not targeting the youth
and are not attractive enough to entice the youth. The bulk of campaigns and posters by SCS
features types of cancer that typically target adults rather than youths. In fact, as of August
2016, only two out of twenty posters on SCS's web page showcases cancer relevant to the
Singapore youth. Furthermore, the posters made by SCS are too wordy ( Common Types of
Cancer ) . According to time magazine, youths in recent times have increasingly shorter
attention spans due to the increased use of technology (McSpadden). Hence, the advertisements
are less likely to attract and appeal to the youth.

Changing the way, the SCS promotes its campaigns, and the type of campaigns will be
beneficial in two ways. The youth is more likely to be interested and read up on cancer if there
are many advertisements are targeted at them. With greater knowledge comes fewer
misconceptions. Foremost, with SCS campaigns targeting youths displayed widely around the
res publica, it will increase the chances of the youth's exposure to this topic. Also, according
to the cumulative effects theory , the media has powerful effects that build up over time. This
means that with extensive exposure to advertisements targeted at them, youths interests to find
out more about the campaign may increase, leading them to find out more information about
cancer and the campaign, on their onus. Consequently, with their curiosity ignited, they
actively and continually seek to learn more about cancer, increasing their knowledge on it.
Inculcating youths with knowledge on the types of potential cancer that develop with age and
clearing misconceptions enhances their awareness of cancer and re-enforces in them the value
of cancer screenings. With increased preparedness of potential cancer(s) they may suffer from,
they will be more proactive in taking charge of their health - in the future, through cancer
screenings. Forbye, clearing up misconceptions amplifies their understanding of cancer, giving
them mental preparedness.

(P4) Possibilities

Outdoor advertisements on the type of cancers that the youth may experience and their
common symptoms will be featured at bus stops and in MRT carriages throughout Singapore.
The street advertisements will compromise largely of pictures and little words. The details and
impact of the outdoor advertisements are as follows: Firstly, the campaign exposes the youths
to the topic (cancer), which is a subject they would not usually explore. With posters placed at
convenient locations, the extensive exposure to the advertisements draws the attention of the
youth, making them read the poster out of curiosity. The increased exposure to this topic subtly
highlights certain misconceptions and embeds in them the importance of cancer screenings
when they are older. With regards to the details of the outdoor advertisements, the
advertisements will compromise largely of pictures and little words as it will appeal more to
the youth. According to Jeff Bullas, a social influencer featured in many renowned newspapers
like Huffington Post, images command 37% more engagement level than text (Bullas). The
text which may include shocking statistics, such as the yearly death rate from cancer
predominant among the youth, will awaken the youth from their stupor, making them more
attentive to cancer symptoms.

Another alternative campaign is a social media campaign showcasing videos of

reputable social media influencers (YouTubers and celebrities) advocating the importance of
cancer screenings and going for them. Furthermore, the YouTubers will also come up with a
YouTube video explaining the current situation of cancer and some of its' misconceptions. The
reason why a social media campaign will work is as below mentioned. SCS can reach a large
audience through social media and spread the knowledge of cancer, especially those that might
affect the youth. According to The Straits Times in 2016, one-third of the world's population
is active on social media (Chin 1). Hence, the social media campaign can be able to transmit
the message of what SCS wants to convey relatively quickly and to a broad audience. As
youths spend much of their spare time on the web, the likelihood of the youths coming across
the campaigns would be very high. This social media campaign would have a phenomenal
effect on the youth, reminding them of the importance of cancer screenings when they are
older. For instance, renowned social media icons like Eden Ang from Wah Banana! can reach
out to more youths through social media., causing more widespread awareness of the
misconception, symptoms of cancer. This high possibility that this campaign will be successful
is supported by CBC News which suggests that youths often yearn fame as they like attention
(How social media is affecting teens). Hence, they would look up to these reputable social
media icons and avidly watch their videos, learning more about cancer willingly.

A third campaign could be a mass distribution of online posters to youths

through their respective educational institutions website and e-learning portal. Firstly, in
todays technology prevalent era, by distributing posters through the respective educational
institutions websites and e-learning portal, it will increase the youths likelihood of chancing
upon the posters, reading them and learning more about cancer. As Singapores education
system is becoming increasingly technological savvy, ever since 2007, the government has
been advocating the use of technology in schools, namely through its schools of the future
programme (Yang). In fact, in 2009, it was predicted that Singapores Infocomm technological
spending in her educational sector was US $290 million at a compound annual growth rate of
about 3 percent (Ong). Hence, this goes to show that with pamphlets distributed to educational
medium online, more youths will likely read up on it. Additionally, online pamphlets allow
information to be more relevant and more individualised to the youths. As the term youths span
a large age group, with different online pamphlets being sent to the varying educational
instructions, this means that the visual and audio elements embedded in the posters could be
more specific to the youths. With technology enhancing the ease of updating information, this
means that any new developments and statistics on cancer relevant to youths can be relayed to
the youths easily by updating the posters online.

(P5) Proposal

The social media campaign is the best solution as it can create substantial support
for the campaigns and is also likely to have the most long-lasting influence as compared to the
other campaigns. With a large follower count, social media celebrities and YouTube stars can
reach out and potentially educate more youths on the misconceptions and possible cancers they
might have. As the youths follow them on social media, they would highly likely support the
content their stars produce. For instance, Night Owl Cinematics has over 85 million views and
440,000 subscribers and even made it under Forbes list for their entrepreneurship skills (30
Under 30 Asia). This showcases the capacity these influencers can have on the youth.
Moreover, by using the platform social media, SCS can garner a strong followership base from
Singaporean youths. This is as Singaporean youths are technological savvy, and many utilise
social media on a day to day basis. Supporting this point is a survey done by Singapore
Polytechnics students, partaken by 820 youths. In this survey, it showcased that the nations
youth spend an average of five and a half hours online daily, with their top five activities all
being social media related (Sim). Meanwhile, social media is also a cost-effective platform to
reach out to the youth. In a report by LYFE Marketing in 2016, it was found that social media
was the cheapest medium in todays advertising market, with its cost per thousand impressions
(the price one an advertiser has to pay to reach 1000 people) being a mere $2.50. To boot this
point, one must remember that by using social media, SCS would be able to update youths about
any upcoming developments of cancer and generate new information quickly, holding the
youths attention (Traditional vs. social media).

Outdoor advertisements are limited in two ways as youths may not be sensitive to their
surroundings, and as not all of them take public transport. Firstly, youths are becoming
desensitised from their surroundings. According to World Vision poll in 2015, youths are
showing lesser empathy. As such, they might ignore the street adverts, thinking that it is not of
their concern. This means that the youth nowadays often exist in their own bubble, noticing the
advertisements, but not taking the time to comprehend them. There is a hike in the number of
people travelling by private transport. In recent years, there has been an increase in app-based
taxi services, with the advent of 5 app-based taxi services in 2013 (Lee and Ho). This suggests
that there is an increase in demand for private transport. Hence, the campaigns efficacy might
be constricted as youths who prefer taking private transport might have little exposure to the
advertisement. Concerning this statistics, with increasing affluence in our society, youths are
becoming increasingly coddled and often take private over to public transport. This limits the
influence of this campaign.

The effectiveness of the third campaign is limited in the following two ways. Foremost,
Network troubleshooting errors could limit the efficacy of the pamphlets. As the pamphlets
are based on an online medium, if the schools learning portal and website is down, it would
mean that the pamphlets cannot be accessed. In a worst case scenario, the poster might even
be removed from a website should the system crash. For instance, on November 11, 2015, a
day preceding the A level paper for H2 Mathematics, the online learning portal AskNLearn
broke down, resulting in learning materials uploaded by teachers to vanish. The materials were
never recovered. This suggests that should the schools online platform be unstable; any
technological glitch might limit the efficacy of the campaign (Ng). Last but not the least,
publishing pamphlets on online media might not be effective effects wise. Todays youths are
becoming increasingly technologically savvy. Coupled with the abundance of advertisement
blockers available, this means that youths may not even come across the online pamphlet by
SCS should they have an advertisement blocker in use. Furthermore, youths might ignore the
pamphlets as might not feel any personal connection with the topic. While technology may be
a powerful tool in disseminating information, what is important in the aspect of this proposal
is that youths comprehend the information written on the pamphlet. Indeed, this is highlighted
by Dr Victor Lim, deputy director of technologies of MOE who states, Technology is just a
tool, it is the educators who make a difference (Yang).
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