Publicis Groupe

The Working With Cancer initiative encourages businesses to support colleagues with cancer. Publicis Groupe went down many avenues to boost awareness for Working With Cancer—but when it came time to tell the human stories of people who've lived with cancer and worked a full time job, there was no better place to go than TikTok. Publicis Groupe was able to use Open Applications, a new feature on the TikTok Creator Marketplace (TTCM), to connect with creators whose personal stories could get to the heart of this initiative and share the importance of supporting people who are living (and working) with cancer.

The objective

Telling human stories to start a movement

For the CEO of Publicis Groupe, Arthur Sadoun, running TikTok creator content was personal.

Last year, Sadoun was diagnosed with cancer. As a person dealing with an illness and still working a full-time job, he experienced how challenging it can be—and what people have to face while juggling their circumstances. The early-morning treatments they book to avoid explaining repeated doctors appointments to their team. The feeling of hesitation before sharing medical details with colleagues. The fear that it could hurt their standing at work. (Many people with cancer are afraid to share their diagnosis with their employers.)

Determined to address this issue on a larger scale, Publicis Groupe launched Working With Cancer, a global call for businesses to play their part in supporting colleagues with cancer.

They made a big play for the campaign during tentpole moments, so they could drive mass awareness. But they wanted to back that awareness up with stories of real people who lived through what Sadoun had lived through. Those firsthand perspectives are one of the most valuable ways to impart upon people just how challenging it is for people—and how urgently there needs to be a solution. Since TikTok is an environment where people share honest, personal stories of their real lives, it was a perfect platform for Publicis Groupe to create content as a part of their Working With Cancer initiative.

The solution

Connecting Publicis Groupe with a unique subset of creators

Before planning the campaign, Publicis Groupe needed to address a key question: How would they find creators on the platform who could tell personal stories about living with cancer? Fortunately, the TikTok Creator Marketplace now offers Open Applications, a campaign type that allows brands to post briefs that creators can respond to, if they're interested. In the case of Working With Cancer, Publicis Groupe put out an open call for stories from people who'd lived through cancer while working a full-time job.

That's how they discovered the story of @thevenueceo, full name Kate Dear, a TikTok creator-slash-entrepeneur who often makes content about her businesses and working life. She also lived through cancer while holding a full time job—so when she spotted the Open Application brief from Publicis Groupe on TikTok Creator Marketplace, she knew it was the right campaign for her.

"I was happy to share my story to possibly help others," Kate said.

Kate told the story of how, at 14 weeks pregnant, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. "My employer's reaction to that was to tell me that they couldn't guarantee my job would be there for me when I was done getting treatment for both," she said in the TikTok video she created as a part of Working With Cancer.

Publicis Groupe boosted Kate's video via Spark Ads, targeting U.S. users who posted content related to cancer. The resulting engagement on the video speaks for itself—over 11 million views, 18,000 likes, and comments from others with similar stories they wanted to share.

The results

Success so strong, it sparked a part two

When advertisers ask creators to share deeply personal, intimate, and consequential stories about their lives, the last thing they need to deal with is logistical issues associated with campaign management or remittance. Thanks to TTCM, Publicis Groupe was able to work with @thevenueceo and pay her in a frictionless way. TTCM Pay, a feature on TTCM that's available to advertisers who use Open Applications, allows brands to pay creators within seven days of posting directly on the platform.

"This was the first TTCM campaign I did," Kate said. "Since then I've done more and became TTCM certified in hopes of doing additional campaigns."

And because the logistics of the campaign were so smooth, it left room for Publicis Groupe to focus on their success—and plan for the future. They've lined up a second wave of Working with Cancer on TikTok, set to run around World Cancer Day.

"We found TTCM to be an intuitive platform that allowed us to identify a very-specific creator niche for such an important message. Being able to source, negotiate, review content and pay within TikTok's platform was a big part of this campaign extension's success," said Luke Long, Platform Experiences Lead at PXP, a creative production division of Publicis.

To learn more about Working with Cancer, visit workingwithcancerpledge.com. And to set up your own TikTok creator campaign, head to the TikTok Creator Marketplace to get started.