Home Work The Symphony of Us

Support paradigm shift in cancer research with powerful story

Facts and figures alone don't move people, stories do. This is why the King Baudouin Foundation engaged us to bridge the gap between innovative oncology research and a narrative that touches people.

Client

King Baudouin Foundation

Deliverables

Brand strategy

Branding

Storytelling

Naming

Baseline

Website

More patient-centric

In 2022, the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) created the "Fund Cancer Research for More Patient Value.” The intention? To contribute to a major, more patient-oriented paradigm shift in the entire cancer research system. Despite widely acclaimed cancer research in Belgium, patients often feel neither seen nor heard. In other words, there is great untapped potential to enhance the value that patients experience within this system.

A crucial story

While very valuable, this new initiative by the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) was at the same time also extremely vulnerable. Indeed, it challenged the prevailing patterns of thinking of many stakeholders and risked clashing with existing views. The right narrative had to be the lens through which patients, researchers, health care providers, financial partners and policy makers look at the content and importance of this project. After a lengthy selection process, the KBF chose Shaved Monkey to collaborate with on a powerful narrative.

Profound insights

As with all of our collaborations, we began by deeply understanding the core of the initiative and its unique aspects. In several workshops, we mapped out the target audiences as well as the intended impact, opportunities and obstacles; these were plotted over time. Together with KBF stakeholders, we produced a clear description of the difference between the current and desired narrative.

Birth of 'The Symphony of Us'

Based on what we learned in the first phase, we then developed the strategic lines along which the story could best achieve its objectives. Through various creative exercises, we further shaped the story. Thus, 'The Symphony of Us' emerged as a new initiative with a defined mission: to orchestrate a profound transformation in the cancer research ecosystem by harmoniously bringing together the voices of patients, researchers and healthcare providers. In addition to the name, we also designed a manifesto and visual concept for 'The Symphony of Us'.

Stepping outside

Once the core of this new story was clear, it was time to start telling it. We applied the brand story to all the necessary ramifications. How do we want our researchers to communicate? What impact can our story have at a conference? How do we want Belgium to present this story during its European presidency? The first milestone was a website which we devised with our friends at Statik.

We were not only responsible for conceptualizing and developing the narrative, but we also guided the researchers, together with Randy Mellaerts, in their quest for patient value and moderated the first bootcamps between researchers and patients.

Overcoming complexity

In summary, the brief within the "Fund Cancer Research for More Patient Value" was a demanding dossier, with challenging language and a complicated context. Looking back, we are proud that we managed to understand the complexity, take into account sensitivities and still put together a coherent story. As such, we stand ready to help further push the boundaries of cancer research and precipitate lasting impact for patients.