Step by Step Towards a Brain Cancer Cure with the Walk4BrainCancer
Impressions
Media Placements
Mentions in Media Coverage
The Business
Cure Brain Cancer Foundation (CBCF) is Australia’s leading organisation dedicated to brain cancer research, advocacy and awareness. With a mission to rapidly increase brain cancer survival and improve quality of life for people impacted by the disease, the Foundation has invested more than $30 million into world-leading research across paediatric and adult brain cancers.
Walk4BrainCancer is the Foundation’s flagship national fundraising and awareness initiative, uniting fighters, survivors, families and supporters across a series of walks and community events nationwide. The campaign plays a critical role in generating funds for research while amplifying awareness of one of Australia’s deadliest cancers.
The Challenge
2025 marked Ardent’s fourth year partnering with Cure Brain Cancer Foundation to deliver national PR support for Walk4BrainCancer.
In an increasingly crowded landscape of charitable events, the challenge was to sustain campaign momentum, drive stronger media conversion and deepen audience engagement, while carefully stewarding deeply personal community stories with sensitivity and respect.
The campaign also faced logistical complexity, requiring a steady pipeline of compelling case studies, fast-turnaround media coordination across multiple states, and strong broadcast support to maximise reach during peak event periods.
Our Process
Ardent delivered a strategic, multi-layered PR program designed to maximise awareness, engagement and fundraising impact across the full campaign lifecycle.
- Strategic Campaign Planning: We developed a comprehensive PR strategy and campaign roadmap to guide activity across all national walk events, ensuring timely case study development, coordinated outreach windows, and consistent momentum throughout the campaign period. Fortnightly WIP meetings and regular collaboration with the CBCF team ensured agility, alignment and fast response to media opportunities.
- Human-Led Storytelling: Eleven powerful community case studies formed the backbone of the campaign. Each story was carefully developed and positioned to resonate across local, regional and national media, spotlighting the personal motivations behind participation and reinforcing the real-world impact of brain cancer.
- Targeted Media Outreach: Ardent developed and distributed 16 tailored media releases and executed 51 bespoke pitch angles across national, metro and regional outlets. Media lists were curated by location and outlet relevance for each walk, ensuring efficient targeting and strong local conversion. Consistent follow-ups and proactive pitching in the lead-up to each event supported media attendance, broadcast opportunities and pre-event awareness.
- Broadcast-First Assets: We leveraged onsite event videography to enable fast-turnaround same-day distribution of footage and interviews to newsrooms. This directly contributed to a significant uplift in metro broadcast coverage and supported where news crews couldn’t attend directly.
- Media Management: Ardent managed all incoming media requests, interview coordination and case study placement, supported by weekly media updates to ensure visibility, transparency and momentum throughout the campaign.
The Impact
The 2025 Walk4BrainCancer campaign delivered the strongest results in the past four years, achieving significant year-on-year growth across all major performance metrics.
Total campaign reach more than doubled compared to 2024, with impressions increasing from 1.77 million to 3.38 million, and total media placements rising from 86 to 117. The campaign achieved an ad value equivalent (AVE) of $231,598, reflecting both the quality and breadth of coverage secured across national and metro broadcast, print and online outlets.
High-profile coverage included outlets such as 9News, 7News, The Daily Telegraph, and Herald Sun, ensuring that the Walk4BrainCancer resonated at both national and metro levels.
Importantly, the campaign continued to demonstrate the tangible link between earned media and fundraising impact. Listener feedback following interviews featuring participants confirmed direct audience engagement and increased donations to participant fundraising pages, reinforcing the effectiveness of PR in supporting overall fundraising performance.