The Power of ONE Influences Many

Kathy Krenger, United States

In public relations we oftentimes think of Consumers as a mass audience – as a demographic, a geographic, a psychographic. But when I think of today’s Action Consumer I often think back to a colleague and former client, Lindsay Avner – one woman, one consumer who made a significant change in her life to empower others to take action and positively impact their lives, through marketing and public relations.

Lindsay was a former Unilever client and I had the pleasure of co-developing a teaching seminar in 2007 with her for our agency partners and brand leads focused on charitable partnerships. That is when I learned about Lindsay’s personal passion – to enlighten and empower high-risk individuals to take control of their breast health. You see, Lindsay has a family history full of illness and death due to cancer so she took control, became informed and made the brave choice at a very young age to test for the “breast cancer gene.” When she found out she had it she made another choice to have a double mastectomy to help drastically increase her changes to stay healthy.

That decision changed her life significantly, and not just from a physical perspective… yes, she took action for herself, but the real ah-ha moment for Lindsay was that she realized she could help others through her experience. She was surprised at how alone she felt as she reached out to experts and the medical community to get better informed…she just couldn’t find someone like her who had gone through this experience already and could provide advice (you should know that Lindsay is one of the youngest patients ever to have this surgery…all the more reason for her to share). Quite literally she has since progressed through all of the steps to becoming today’s Action Consumer in the most powerful way. I’d like to share her story:

After informing herself on the breast cancer gene and its implications she was compelled to share her experiences with others.  Her first big moment using her marketing expertise to tell her story was an interview with the Chicago Tribune. The next day the reporter called Lindsay and shared that response to the story was more than the paper had ever seen! The media onslaught had begun….next day: New York Post, next day: The Today Show, following day: CNN.  The word was out and more than 1,000 young women had reached out for more information that first week. The thought of responding to them seemed an impossible individual task so she decided to take it to the next level and pay it forward.

She found her personal passion was so great that she could affect change by becoming a true advocate for the cause of breast health. Lindsay founded Bright Pink (http://www.bebrightpink.com/), a national non-profit organization that provides education and support to young women who are at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer. They arm young women with knowledge, options and a great attitude, and offer companionship and empathy during their journey. They empower them to take control of their breast and ovarian health and in turn, grant them the freedom and peace of mind to live a beautiful and fulfilling life.

After a year and a half of balancing her marketing career at Edelman and her “pay it forward” passion at Bright Pink, Lindsay (with encouragement from her board) decided it was time to use her marketing skills full-time for Bright Pink.  Now she brings the cause to life each and every day and spends all of her time and providing members and supporters with ways to participate in the effort as well. In fact, this year during the months of September and October, Dove Hair Care will donate a percentage of proceeds from select products to Bright Pink in an effort to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month. To be fully transparent, Dove Hair Care is a client and I in no way mean for this to be a shameless plug! This is just one of the many ways Bright Pink is getting others to participate in their brand including working with Orbit White gum, Intermix boutiques and others. What’s important to Lindsay and Bright Pink is that the brands they partner with truly want to partner and engage in her cause, not just sell, sell, sell.

Last, Lindsay and Bright Pink have now created a multitude of ways for members and supporters to become the newest generation of advocates for Bright Pink. The Pink Pal program partners supporters of similar circumstances together to share their experiences and help each other see the positive in a scary situation. Lindsay only wishes she had this network back when she was making her brave choice to be proactive in her health….now thousands of other young women can lead by her example.

Lindsay is a testament to the power that one individual can have to make change. This story of Lindsay’s work for Bright Pink is very personal and cause-related, but I reference her passion to my brand clients all the time as an example of how one person can provide positive influence to so many others to engage. There are people out there who want to engage and they will participate in any effort with a charity, a brand or a company when they feel a sense of loyalty and ownership. We just need to give them the power to do so.