I Know Someone with Cancer: Heartfelt Marketing by PCSB Students
By Madeline Frick ’24
Virtually everyone has been affected by cancer in some way. But how should loved ones react to the battle their cancer patients are facing? In 2022, Fortune 500 marketing strategist Bobby Fried ’67 created an e-book called “A Cancer Survivor’s Etiquette Guide: How to Act and Communicate with Someone You Know Battling Cancer.” As a cancer survivor himself, Fried’s goal was to provide raw insight from his previous experiences as a patient and eventually, give this e-book more of an online presence. With the help of the Providence College School of Business and the Chirico Career Center, three undergraduate marketing students and one graduate student helped Fried expand the e-book’s online presence.
Under the supervision of Michael A. Ruane Endowed Professor in Marketing, Daniel Horne, Ph.D., and senior associate director of experimental education and funding, Laura Pellecchia, Natalie Buckley ’23, ’24G, Luke Sweeney ’24, and Ryan Jendzejec ’21, ’23G, and I conducted a marketing independent study to bring Fried’s work to the internet. In March 2023, we launched our website, titled “I Know Someone with Cancer.” We were able to spread Fried’s helpful advice and expand upon his mission, creating a website with a blog, an Instagram page, and access to the e-book itself.
This project, however, was no cakewalk. In addition to launching the website, our “Dream Team,” as Fried deemed us, met weekly with cancer experts from organizations such as the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, the Dana-Farber Cancer Center, the Rhode Island Department of Health, and the American Cancer Society. We also met with Fried from his California home over Zoom and got to know him personally through his cancer story, as well as professionally in creating this online brand identity for his e-book.
“Bobby [Fried] has had an impressive and successful career as a marketing executive and a bestselling author. But what you can’t learn from a Google search is that he is one of the most charismatic, personable, and easy-going people I have had the privilege of meeting,” Sweeney said. “I am glad to have been a part of the ‘Dream Team.’”
Buckley, Sweeney, and I were chosen to present this semester-long project at Providence College’s 14th annual Celebration of Student Scholarship and Creativity in April. Afterward, we created QR code stickers for the website that were distributed throughout the region, with the hopes of making it to cancer centers and hospitals.
“We took Bobby [Fried]’s incredible e-book and created a website and QR code that gave a platform for his work, formed partnerships with hospitals and cancer support groups, and were able to build great relationships with one another and many far beyond the PC campus walls,” Buckley said. “This project had a personal pull at my heart, as cancer has impacted the lives of my family and friends.”
From my own experience, it was an honor to be chosen to work on such a rewarding, sentimental project. I was able to work on a topic I am very passionate about while also furthering my digital marketing skills on a new platform, WordPress. In the future, the hope is that this project can continue to adapt and grow its presence as a resource in a world where cancer unfortunately is so prominent in people’s lives.
“Our heartfelt marketing helped drive our success, that not only does a letter grade reassure, but the real human feedback of the target audience we reached meant so much,” Buckley said. “I extend my gratitude to Bobby for being courageous and sharing his personal journey with cancer, and for creating a resource that many people can benefit from during such a difficult time in their lives.”
To view the work and read Fried’s e-book, visit https://iknowsomeonewithcancer.org/.
