How to mark World ‘Awareness of Awareness Days’ Day

This is going to be a busy month for me. Not only do I have to mark National Organic Month, World Suicide Prevention Day, International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, International Talk Like A Pirate Day (yes, really), World Reflexology Week and World Alzheimer’s Day, I have also just found out that September is Oral Health Month.

Oral Health Month is the brainchild of Colgate, which is ploughing £1m into initiatives to drive awareness of dental health care and hygiene. Oral Health Month will, apparently, remind the public about the importance of keeping their teeth and gums healthy.

While clearly an important and worthy cause, there will be concerns in some quarters that its creation has a purely commercial imperative behind it. This compares, for example, with National Smile Month, created by the British Dental Health Foundation, an independent oral health charity.

There has been a massive proliferation of awareness days in recent times as brands attempt to cut above the line budgets in favour of “smart” PR/CSR-style activity. The risk, of course, is that the sheer number of awareness events gives each of them – even the most worthy – the impact of wallpaper. And if, as with any other piece of communication, the event is poorly aligned and badly thought out it can actively work against the brand.

Normal diligence with research is the order of the day. Good early stage creative development which focuses on connecting the brand and consumer through the idea would be helpful, and a resistance to using research to provide part of the story rather than test the story idea. And remember that no matter how many awareness days or events there are, only a few rise to the surface of our consciousness. 

For example, there are nearly 400 film and TV awards events each year but as a film and TV follower I think most would only recall the Oscars, Golden Globes and the BAFTAs.

There are now so many awareness days that brands need to be careful which ones they choose to associate themselves with. Best to go with an event organised independently and without obvious commercial motive and to do so in a way that fits both the brand proposition and the objectives of the event.

And with that, I’m off to look for a sponsor World ‘Awareness of Awareness Days’ Day.