Lance Armstrong is most famous for his seven consecutive victories in the Tour de France bike race. Prior to his racing career Armstrong had suffered and survived Testicular cancer which makes his victories all that more impresive. He instantly became an insperation to young cancer patients and in 1997 founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation.The Livestrong wristbands were first made available May 2004 to promote the Lance Armstrong Cancer Foundation. The money that is made from the sale of these wristbands goes towards this foundation to help improve the lives of young cancer patients.
When the wristbands were first released for sale the medium was fairly original and un-heard of. The bands became very popular not only with cancer sufferers and their families but everyone. Children in particular bought the bands as an accessory. The subject of Cancer itself is a very serious one but the bands promoted a message in a way which was very light hearted. The yellow bands were created to promote and raise money for the foundation and at the same time unify people in the battle that many face against cancer.
The sports company Nike also aided in the promotion of the foundation by introducing a range of sports clothing in association with Lance Armstrong.
The link below shows the Livestrong clothing available from Nike
http://www.nike.com/index.jhtml?l=nikestore,lance#l=nikestore,lance
Other ways in which the Livestrong campaign have promoted the Lance Armstrong foundation (LAF) include video. This link below shows a trailer promoting the Livestrong Challenge were cancer patients are encoraged to take part in sporting activites such as running and cycling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDfCTJQTpXs
Why i chose the campaign.
I chose this campaign because of its originality. The idea of the wristbands had never really been used before this campaign. The idea was adopted by many charities and wristbands are now available for many different causes and displaying many different messages. These include the pink breast cancer awareness band, the black and white anti-racism band and a blue colour band for anti- bullying. In essence i would say the popularity of the yellow Livestrong bands sparked off the use of this medium.
Due to the popularity of the bands i would say that the Livestrong campaign is a great success. Not only have the wristbands raised money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation but they have spread awareness of what the foundation does. The idea has also succeeded in uniting young cancer suffers worldwide.
I would like to incorporate some of this campaigns ideas into my own work. I like the way in which people can automatically associate a message with the brand or the words inscribed on the bands. If i were to include this it would mean i would have to depict a strong brand identity in my own work.
Conclusion
Overall i think that i can take some aspects of the Livestrong campaign and use them in my own work. I dont think that the wristband idea would suit the design brief but the idea behind the messages and branding could work well.
Due to the popularity of the yellow wristbands people automatically associate the object with the message. In my opinion that makes this a very strong campaign. The idea could appeal to anyone and that is why the bands unit people in the support of young cancer sufferers.
2 comments:
So far, very interesting with a thought provoking introduction.
Very good post. It is on point in analysing why the campaign was successful, and the different aspects of it, as well as the wristband phenomenon.
It would be interesting to come up with something as simple, cheap and straightforward, but potentially as ubiquitous as the wristband for brief2.
Silvia
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