Ostomy Awareness Day: Transforming an audience into a community.

Community beats campaigns. When you invite people to share and see themselves, awareness turns into belonging.

What is Ostomy Awareness Day?

Ostomy Awareness Day raises visibility for people living with ostomies, celebrates their resilience, and educates the public and caregivers. Brands and advocates use the day to share resources and real stories, reduce stigma, and build community around confidence, skin health, and quality of life for ostomates and their families.

What is an ostomy? And why are we writing about it?

Imagine you have been diagnosed with colon cancer. You are young and have always been healthy, but suddenly doctors say you need immediate surgery. When you wake up from that surgery, there is a bag attached to a hole in your abdomen. Welcome to the rest of your life.

Ostomy surgery is a life‑saving procedure that allows bodily waste to pass through a surgically created opening in the abdomen called a stoma. For most ostomies, a pouch or ostomy bag is worn over the stoma to collect stool or urine. Someone may need an ostomy due to birth defects, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis, incontinence, or other medical conditions. A person who has had an ostomy is called an ostomate.

Hollister, Inc. makes life more rewarding and dignified for ostomates, with ostomy products that support comfort, security, and healthy skin. It has been our honor at StudioNorth to help Hollister engage its global audience with an award‑winning, omnichannel campaign rooted in Customer Engagement.

Ten Days, Thousands of Voices

Even when you know you are getting an ostomy, it is a major life change. Ostomates face physical and emotional challenges. Will it leak? Will it smell? Will everyone know I have a stoma? How will I shower? Can I be active? Will I have to change what I eat? These are just a few of the worries.

But one thing is certain, ostomies do not stop most ostomates from enjoying their lives. Each person adapts in their own way and time. Life with an ostomy may be different from life before. Many ostomates will tell you that different can mean better.

That sentiment became the core idea behind Hollister’s campaign for Ostomy Awareness Day 2020, aimed at engaging a broader audience and encouraging participation. During COVID‑19, with isolation and lost connection, the team wanted a campaign that gave followers greater confidence, a stronger community, and tools for virtual connection.

In honor of the 10th anniversary of Ostomy Awareness Day, Ten Days, Thousands of Voices showcased 10 influential ostomy end users in the 10 days leading up to the event. Along with videos of these advocates speaking about skin health, quality of life, and ostomy positivity, the campaign encouraged advocates to tag Hollister for additional exposure.

A virtual cooking class that centered on skin health

The highlight was a virtual cooking class with the chefs of Nude Dude Food, who prepared a meal centered on skin health. Nude Dude Food was created by two lifelong best friends who now operate one of Chicago’s most sought‑after private dining businesses. One of the founders, Ryan Van Voorhis, lives with an ostomy, which inspired their catering business.

“My ostomy makes it possible for me to say…”

To encourage user‑generated content and participation, Hollister launched a social prompt inviting ostomates to finish the sentence, “My ostomy makes it possible for me to say ….” We turned their answers into life‑affirming social cards that could be downloaded and shared. Below are just some of the favorites, preserved in the author’s original phrasing:

• I Am More Than My Circumstances.
• I Can Travel to Places I Love.
• I Can Live a Fulfilling Life Again.
• I Get to Live Life.
• I Have My Life Back.
• I Am Working My Dream Job.
• I Can Achieve Anything I Put My Mind To.
• Grab Life with Both Hands.
• I Chose an Ostomy to Give Me the Best Quality of Life.
• I Am Unique and Resilient.
• I Am Me and Not Ashamed of My Ostomy.
• I Now Live by “I Can” and “I Will.”

Living life to the fullest

We compiled these cards, along with other helpful resources, into a guide for living life to the fullest with an ostomy. The booklet is filled with inspiration and practical advice on living with an ostomy from people who are doing it.

Animated stickers that traveled far

The campaign also included a set of animated social stickers that were fun and empowering. These stickers ran on Facebook and Instagram to personalize stories and show support for ostomates. The stickers have earned more than 1 million views. Here are a few favorites:

Vision and results

Below are highlight results, measured through our Performance Management approach:

We entered the Ostomy Awareness Day 2020 work in AMA Chicago’s 2021 BrandSmart Awards and won Gold for Influencer Marketing, a recognition for the most effective and creative use of influencer marketing to achieve a business outcome.

Key takeaway

Design for participation. When people can see themselves in the work and add their voice, campaigns become communities.

FAQs

How do you avoid tokenizing advocates in health campaigns?
Co‑create with the community. Compensate creators, review copy with them, and let them approve their stories before publishing.

What channels worked best for this campaign?
Social video and stories for participation, plus owned content for longer guidance. The mix was orchestrated as part of Digital Activation.

How can we measure community impact beyond vanity metrics?
Track engagement depth, submissions, and saves. Pair quantitative results with qualitative sentiment, then map both to your Customer Engagement objectives.

Published October 2022. Updated November 2025.