Building Protection: Why Pablo Is Raising Awareness Of Skin Cancer

Pablo's joint managing director Hannah Penn is celebrated for her business acumen and leadership skills - helping the agency deliver for clients from the Metropolitan Police to P&O Cruises, Tetley and Birrificio Angelo Poretti.

But alongside it all, and in her 'downtime' away from the ad industry, Penn has been delving into a creative mission of her own: raising awareness of skin cancer risk among construction workers.

When she was diagnosed and treated for melanoma after giving birth to her youngest son, she came across a shocking statistic, leading her to draw on the agency's resources to help push construction employers to prioritise sun protection.

Speaking to Creative Salon, Penn explains why the cause is so close to her heart, and why Pablo believes in investing resources and working with the Considerate Constructors Scheme to push for behaviour change.

CS: What inspired the idea and how did you come across the statistics mentioned in the campaign?

Hannah Penn: I was diagnosed with melanoma aged 33, 10 days after giving birth to my youngest son.

Whilst in treatment, I became quite fixated on finding out more about the causes of melanoma, understanding who the most vulnerable groups were, truthfully, because at that point I was concerned about whether or not my children were more likely to be impacted as a result of me having cancer while pregnant.

That's how I came across the statistic that construction workers in the UK make up 8 per cent of our workforce but represent 44 per cent of occupational melanoma deaths.

When you ladder on the other stats; melanoma rates have tripled in the past 30 years, and skin cancer is now the 5th most common cancer - the picture is really stark. However the silver lining is that 86 per cent of cases are preventable. That was the trigger for us at Pablo. We’d discovered a fatal problem that, with the right behavioural nudges, could be avoided. And so we got to work.

How does the vest work and what steps went into the design?

HP: The purpose of building a very bold, disruptive design ecosystem at every touchpoint was to bring UV-U-SEE from the vest itself all the way through the typeface, is about revealing something to the viewer.

The vest itself has a silicone UV-U-SEE logo on the front, which has a UV reactive silicon in it which goes from white to red in reaction to UV exposure. It is a way of visualising risk. But also presenting the lifesaving solution. We have also designed UV-U-SEE suncream in partnership with LifeJacket Skin Protection, dispensers, and pumps for communal use - because we are calling for these products to be the new basic standard in construction health and safety.

Can you talk more about Considerate Constructors and their input in the project/working with them? Have you tested it out with people, and what have their reactions been?

HP: Considerate Constructors Scheme are the ultimate symbol of progress and innovation in the construction industry (they are a non-profit organisation which works within the industry and the public to raise standards and build trust in the industry).

They constantly look to raise standards, they believe UV safety isn’t just a seasonal concern, it’s a year-round priority. They have committed to updating their Code to incorporate skin protection and to champion for a gold-standard solution across the construction industry.

Companies that prioritise UV safety for their workforce will be recognised and rewarded. This really means that from day one of the campaign, we’re driving the change we want to see, thanks to a partnership that means a new standard is being rolled out and embraced from day one.

What would be a marker for successful awareness from the campaign?

HP: We are so overwhelmed and delighted with the reception to the campaign. Melanoma is so prevalent, and so fundamentally this is about making a vulnerable group more aware so they can take the precaution necessary to hopefully save lives.

We are excited to continue welcoming new partners onboard, because this launch is just the beginning. In Australia, if you are operating a construction site without the necessary skin protection products available to staff (i.e. suncream) you will get shut down. That’s what we are working towards here. A new standard in onsite health and safety where skin protection products are as essential on sites as a hard hat.

How does Pablo's ethos inspire collaborative work like this?

We are an agency that believes in action over words. Really demonstrating the change you want to see or the value you want to offer through behaviour.

This project represents that belief at its truest, and brings together a group of people, with passion and commitment around a cause – to develop something to force a change in behaviour.

We are lucky enough to do that daily for our group of incredible clients. But we are also lucky enough to be able to make the decision to invest our time and resources into our own projects which demonstrate this.

The ability to work with colleagues who didn’t just put up with my personal passion for this cause, but who took it on as their own because they knew how much it meant to me is something I am deeply grateful for. I hope that passion can in some small way now help to do some genuine good in the world.