What is familiar to us can cause great amazement abroad. Our Burda Verlag top lists and seals have long since become flagships beyond Germany's borders.
How old were you when "Die Schwarzwaldklinik" was must-see? Today, a BCN study reveals a high level of mistrust in the healthcare system. The Felix Burda Foundation's campaign for Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March focuses on trust.
"Health doesn't work without credibility. And prevention doesn't work without trust," says Heidrun Thaiss, Executive Director of Medicine & Science at the Felix Burda Foundation. The latest BCN study, "Deutschland Puls" (Germany Pulse), shows that only 22 per cent trust the healthcare system and only 14 per cent trust healthcare policy.
So what can be done when traditional health communication no longer resonates with people? When facts and figures alone do not motivate anyone to take preventive measures? This is precisely where the Felix Burda Foundation's new, surprising campaign for this year's Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March comes in. The goal: to regain trust in prevention and address facts without pointing fingers and with a wink. Because prevention works: 60 per cent of all cancer deaths could be prevented through screening and early detection.
Together with the agency Serviceplan BOOSTing Health, eight commercials were created that credibly convey the Felix Burda Foundation's message in the original setting of the 1980s ZDF early evening series "Die Schwarzwaldklinik" (The Black Forest Clinic) and specifically dispel myths and reservations about colorectal cancer screening and prevention.
"With “Die Schwarzwaldklinik”, we are making the most of an idealised world. A time when doctors were still considered 'demigods in white' and medicine enjoyed trust," explains Carsten Frederik Buchert, Director of Marketing & Communications. "The theme tune alone evokes a pleasant feeling of nostalgia. We deliberately use this flashback to combine the positive framing of the past with today's knowledge for our core target group of 50-plussers: prevention is effective and good for you!"
"This campaign reaches our target group where trust existed: in positive memories from childhood and youth," emphasises Heidrun Thaiss. “"Die Schwarzwaldklinik” evokes exactly this feeling. As a long-time fan, I immediately embraced the idea because it perfectly combines the emotionality of the past with the rational scientific knowledge of today."
To implement the campaign, the creators immersed themselves in all episodes of “Die Schwarzwaldklinik” to select the appropriate sequences and edit the original scene snippets into the new storyline of the commercial.
Also featured are Sky du Mont and Barbara Wussow, who was one of the series' audience favourites as Nurse Elke. They lend their voices to the commercials for the voice-overs.
Now beam yourself back to the 80s: Click here to watch the commercials!
