Case Study
Boob Box – Lounge ft native
Cam Healey, Head of Events at Lounge Underwear, talks through the showstopping Boob Box activation which took campuses by storm – and it all started with a native booking.
The context: a five-year legacy
Breast cancer is a disease that has the power to touch all of our lives. An average of 55,920 people in the UK will be diagnosed with it per year – and tragically, 11,499 will die from it. But breast cancer is survivable – the earlier it’s detected, the better chance of successful treatment.
Which is why it’s so important that everyone learns how to check their breasts – regularly, and from an early age. It’s often the first step towards a life-saving early diagnosis.
Lounge Underwear has long been a champion of breast cancer awareness. The underwear brand’s #FeelYourBreast campaign has been running for five years now, and has raised global awareness of breast examination as a way to detect breast cancer – as well as £1 million for charity partners working in the breast cancer space.
So when Lounge launched their own charity, The Lounge Foundation, breast cancer awareness was, of course, at the forefront of their minds.
As Cam Healey – Head of Events – explains, Lounge wanted to “raise awareness of breast cancer among young people, and encourage them to check their breasts. You can get it at any age, and anyone can get it – including males.”
Lounge Underwear had already brought the #FeelYourBreast campaign to UK campuses in 2022 by way of their iconic Boob Box.
In 2023, they were ready to do it all again.
The challenge: get uni students breast-cancer aware
As a dominant force in the UK underwear market, Lounge knows their 16-24-year-old consumer base very well. So when it came to increasing breast cancer awareness among young people, campus marketing was an obvious choice. “Campuses are the best places to get a good amount of people from our customer base in the same place at the same time”, explains Cam.
native research reflects this. Students spend an average of 16.3 hours on campus per week, rising to 25.2 hours for first years. And they care about health-related issues, too. 86% told us that healthcare is important to them – making it the most popular cause for a Gen Z student to get behind. By capturing their attention in an environment where they’re receptive, Lounge could successfully get students clued up on breast examination.
With all of this in mind, it was time to take the Boob Box back to university.
The solution: bring back the Boob Box
Working closely with native, Lounge mapped out a Boob Box tour which spanned five key campuses, with plans laid out for the Boob Box to spend two days at each site. With our exclusive reach of advertising opportunities across 72 campuses, native was best-placed to book in the activation at scale, empowering Lounge to cherry-pick their preferred sites – something Cam appreciates. “Last year, we booked in uni by uni, so I was speaking to each university individually”, he recalls. “This year, native made it completely seamless”.
So, what exactly goes on in the Boob Box? It’s an educational hub with a charitable aim. Lounge thongs were available for students at each Boob Box for a minimum of £1 charitable donation. Students were able to register in advance for a ticket to the activation. When they showed up to the Boob Box, they’d receive an info leaflet on how to check their breasts, and the opportunity to pick one of three thongs in exchange for a donation.
As the gateway to campus media opportunities across the UK, native strives to bring expertise – as well a friendly face – to the booking process. “I worked with Charlie – a senior native account manager – from the start”, Cam recalls. “I cannot begin to tell you how brilliant she’s been. She was friendly, polite, and just a lovely person to work with.The biggest of shoutouts to Charlie”.
The results: “a complete success”
The Boob Box was a huge hit with students across the five native campuses we booked, with tickets flying off the (virtual) shelves in advance, and thousands showing up across the sites to learn more about self-examination. “Students as a whole were great to interact with, and once they knew what it was for and we told them about the Lounge Foundation, they were willing to donate even more”, says Cam.
What’s more, students were willing to put their money behind Lounge’s cause. “Altogether, including online, we’ve raised £400,000 for the Lounge Foundation this year”, says Cam. “That includes £45,000 raised across the universities.”
This means that students contributed 11.25% of the total raised in the wider campaign. “Bearing in mind, that’s with a minimum of £1 donation, so it just goes to show that students are donating more than a pound”, said Cam. “To donate as much as they did is absolutely fantastic”.
Although nothing is set in stone as of yet, it looks like Lounge might make a return to campus at some point in the future. “I 100% would consider booking in campus media again’’, said Cam. “From the experience of dealing with native I’d do it in a heartbeat – it was a complete success”.
And for the students who visited the Boob Box, it’s a vital education in self-examination – one that could prove to be life-saving.
From one-off activations to campus tours, native has done it all – we’re the gateway to advertising on campus. Get in touch to see what we could do for you.