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Issues
Heart disease is the #1 killer of women. But in a 2000 survey, only 34% of women knew this. Even though heart disease kills women at 8 times the rate of breast cancer, knowledge of the mortality rate and of the risk factors for heart disease was low-among women and the population in general. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, realized that raising public awareness of heart disease among women-and getting them to discuss the issue with their doctors-was critical to reducing it's impact on women's health.
Challenge
Societally, heart disease has been thought to be a condition that overwhelmingly affects men, creating a significant hurdle for any campaign targeting women to get over. Also, social marketing and pharmaceutical marketing activities centered on women's health issues have multiplied dramatically in recent years. Simply getting women to pay attention to yet another message regarding health and behavioral change was daunting.
Insight
In any public health education effort, insight begins with research. For this effort, this included a comprehensive analysis of mid-life women (weighing demographic, psychographic, and socioeconomic factors, as well as knowledge of cardiovascular health and other criteria); a client-conducted literature review of 200+ research articles; and extensive focus group testing.
 The result was a campaign called The Heart Truth-a campaign whose tagline, "Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear-It's the #1 Killer of Women," directly addressed the prevailing myth that women aren't seriously affected by cardiovascular disease. And by echoing a common phrase, "the hard truth," it made women realize that this was an issue they had to face.
Creative Idea
Focus group research with women showed that forging a strong emotional link between a woman's focus on her outer self (appearance) and the need to focus on her inner self (health in general and heart health, in particular) was critical to any communications effort.
The centerpiece creative element of The Heart Truth became the Red Dress. This iconic image, which incorporates the color most associated with the idea of the "heart," provided a creative linchpin for the campaign and became a rallying symbol for partners, media, and, most importantly, women with heart disease.
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