“Clear is the new clever” is an oft-repeated piece of marketing wisdom, and few campaigns explain what they are about as clearly as Cleveland Diagnostics’ PSA on PSA does with its name—it’s short for a Public Service Announcement on the Prostate-Specific Antigen—which returned for its second year on September 1, at the start of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.
Over the course of the month, Cleveland Diagnostics encouraged people to download a discussion guide from PSAonPSA.com with questions to ask and information for patients to bring to their next doctor’s appointment. For every download, Cleveland Diagnostics will make a donation to Zero Prostate Cancer to fund research and resources to aid in the fight against prostate cancer (the total of the company’s contribution to the organization will be announced in October). In addition, throughout September, Zero Prostate Cancer will match donations in celebration of the awareness month.
Chris Fox, VP of marketing at Cleveland Diagnostics, shares some of the numbers that indicate why the campaign remains urgent and necessary: Nearly 300,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year and over 35,000 will die from the disease—it is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the United States, following only lung cancer.
“For decades, the rate of late-stage diagnoses was declining. Now, that long run is over,” Fox said. “Late-stage diagnoses are up and screenings have slowed.” A recent survey conducted by the Harris Poll reported that nearly 67% of men aged 55 to 69 years are not being screened for prostate cancer.
While Arnon Chait, CEO and cofounder of Cleveland Diagnostics, expresses some empathy for people who fall into the all-too-human tendency to put off doctor’s visits, he emphasized the dangers of not being screened.
“Cancer is a very quiet disease, until it’s not quiet and then once it’s not quiet, everybody knows that you can ask anybody on the street and they’ll tell you, ‘of course, you should find it early,’ So you have to make this extra effort,” he said. “We are lucky to have a simple blood test called a PSA, so just take it.”
Fox pointed to the accuracy rate of PSA tests as another reason why men may avoid getting screened, but noted that new IsoPSA tests have radically improved the screening process.
“After an elevated PSA result, patients are usually routed to MRI or a prostate biopsy. The issue is that biopsies can be costly and invasive, and up to 70% come back negative for high grade cancer,” he explained. “You can see how this would be frustrating to do year after year for routine screening. Recent advancements, like our IsoPSA test, are meant to fill this gap, helping these types of patients avoid unnecessary biopsies while also continuing to test for prostate cancer.” Cleveland Diagnostics is not the only one touting the benefits of the IsoPSA test. In March 2022, the Journal of Urology reported that the new test may reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies by 55%.
The second iteration of the PSA on PSA campaign is similar to the first year in its look and tone which Fox describes as important when building on the success of the initial effort. There’s a continued emphasis on making the site easy to navigate and its materials easily accessible. There’s no need to enter any personal information to download the factsheet and with one click a donation will be made to Zero Prostate Cancer. This year’s campaign kicked off with a video on LinkedIn hosted by Dr. Jason Hafron, a practicing urologist and Chief Medical Officer out of Michigan who is an advocate for Cleveland Diagnostics’ work with IsoPSA. In addition to earned media opportunities, the company has run a series of posts on LinkedIn and X highlighting the campaign.
When asked for the tone that the campaign is trying to achieve, Fox lists “straightforward, timely and important,” as some adjectives that capture its messaging approach. Those words also fit Fox’s concluding thoughts: “Download our factsheet to help understand your risk, know your testing options and confidently talk with your doctor—that’s our PSA on PSA.”
