Driving Impact Through Collaboration: The Paint The Town Pink Case Study

Paint The Town Pink,  a bold, city-wide activation that transformed October into a vibrant month of purpose, participation, and pink.

For years, the Sime Darby LPGA has championed Breast Cancer Awareness Month with its signature “Pink Saturday.” But in 2023, the goal was bigger:
Don’t just colour a day. Colour the entire city.

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The Challenge

Pink Saturday was visually impactful, but inherently limited.

• Awareness was confined to tournament attendees

• The activation had low visibility beyond the golfing community

• Lifestyle media and non-golf audiences had little reason to engage

• PR value relied heavily on declining traditional media coverage
  

The brief was clear:
Expand reach, increase talkability, and bring Breast Cancer Awareness Month into everyday Malaysian life, beyond golf.

The Insight

If pink is the colour of awareness,
Why limit it to a single Saturday?

Breast cancer awareness could be woven into places people already love, fashion stores, cafés, fitness studios, and nightlife spots.

To truly “paint the town pink,” the campaign needed to:

• Exist beyond TPC Kuala Lumpur

• Feel participative, not performative

• Be driven by communities, not just a brand

The Idea

Paint The Town Pink

A month-long, city-wide campaign that extended Pink Saturday into October, transforming everyday lifestyle spaces across Klang Valley into visible symbols of support.

Instead of asking people to come to the tournament,
We brought the movement to where they already were.

The Execution: How We Literally Painted the Town Pink

To take breast cancer awareness beyond the tournament grounds, we transformed everyday touchpoints across the city into Pink visibility moments. Partnering with women-led brands across food, fashion, fitness, and lifestyle, each business activated “pink” in a way that felt natural to their community, from curated pink menus, drinks, storefronts, and staff attire to themed classes and social-led amplification.

This created sustained awareness all month long, extending far beyond Pink Saturday and showing up where people actually spend their time.

Where We Seeded Visibility:

• Cafés & restaurants – pink menus, drinks, uniforms, décor

• Retail spaces – storefront takeovers, pink outfits, product tie-ins

• Fitness studios – themed sessions, community classes

• Lifestyle hangouts – pop-ups, events, in-store moments

• Social platforms – partner amplification, UGC, cause-driven storytelling

The freedom given to partners made the campaign feel organic, not forced — resulting in authentic support and genuine public interest.

“The campaign was brought to life in a multitude of ways across our outlets… Our customers were pleasantly treated to a pink sight and were more than happy to contribute to such a good cause.”
— Caroline Lai, All Tasty Ideas

“As a brand that caters to women, breast cancer is a cause that resonates deeply with our customers and us.”
— Kay Chow, Dressing Paula

Partners, influencers, and customers organically amplified the campaign online, allowing Paint The Town Pink to scale beyond physical locations and into digital spaces, attracting lifestyle media attention previously out of reach.

The Impact

Paint The Town Pink delivered results that were considered exceptional at the time, across awareness, fundraising, and reach.

Campaign Results

• RM232,788 in PR value (a +138% increase YoY)

• RM240,073 raised for Cancer Research Malaysia (+223% YoY)

• Footfall grew beyond golfers, attracting fashion enthusiasts, fitness communities, foodies, and nightlife crowds

• 15% of attendees were entirely new, non-golf audiences

• 25% of total funds raised came from Paint The Town Pink lifestyle activations alone

In 2016, Pink Saturday’s impact and reach was only confined within the tournament area (in red). In 2017, through Paint the Town Pink, the awareness was extended outside the confines of TPC (in pink).

A Pink Movement That Left a Mark

By bringing brands, influencers, and Malaysians together, the Sime Darby LPGA didn’t just host a campaign; it also fostered a sense of community. It sparked a movement.

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If you’d like to create a campaign that rallies a community and amplifies real impact,
reach us at hatters@madhat.asia.