Title	ALZHEIMER'S NEWS EDITORS
Brand	NATIONAL NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTE
Product/Service	AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Category	B04. FUNDRAISING, CHARITIES, APPEALS, NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS, PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY, PUBLIC AWARENESS
Entrant Company	PUBLICIS SKOPJE, MACEDONIA
Advertising Agency	PUBLICIS SKOPJE, MACEDONIA
Media Agency	ZENITHOPTIMEDIA Skopje, MACEDONIA

Name	Company	Position
Vasilije Corluka	Publicis Skopje	Creative Director
Dejan Spirkoski	Publicis Skopje	Copywriter
Miki Stefanoski	Publicis Skopje	Art Director
Milan Stojanov	Publicis Skopje	Art Director
Igor Celebic	Publicis Skopje	Media Director
Saso Duljanov	Publicis Skopje	Pr Director
Aleksandar Jakovlev	Publicis Skopje	Post Production
Aleksandar Pulios	Publicis Skopje	Dop Lighting Cameraman
Bojana Trpcevska	Publicis Skopje	Account Manager
Gorgi Janevski	Publicis Skopje	Designer

The Campaign

One of the first symptoms Alzheimer’s disease is that patients start forgetting things from the present, but still remember in great detail things from the past. Unfortunately, this early sign is usually overlooked due to widespread believe that it's normal for the elderly people to forget things. Hence, the majority of patients seek medical help only when the disease has already progressed too far. The goal of the campaign was to raise the public awareness to about recognizing early signs of Alzheimer's. In order to do this, we created a special kind of news. We talked to Alzheimer’s patients and asked them what are the latest news and events they could remember. They became our news editors. Using their real memories we created: THE FRONT PAGES FROM THE PAST - where each news article was based on a memory of an actual Alzheimer’s patient. Since the client,National Neurological, institute didn't have any available media budget for the campaign, we turned to PR and started extensive cooperation with the leading media to get support for the idea. Finally, on the World’s Alzheimer’s day, the 3 leading newspapers, were published with front pages featuring news from the past. The news on the 4 main TV stations were also changed with news bulletins from the past. In only one day, the message about recognizing early signs of Alzheimer’s reached 68% of the entire Macedonian population*. As a result, in the following months, the number of people seeking early medical advice increased more than double. *Source: Nielsen Media Research

The Brief

The goal of the campaign was to make a significant shift in the public awareness about recognizing early signs of Alzheimer's. The target audience was elderly people above 60 years, as well as their closes families. Since newspapers and TV are still the leading media in Macedonia, especially among this TG, it was crucial to get support the main newspapers and TV stations. The creative idea was developed after extensive research and consultation with medical experts about identifying early signs of Alzheimer's. Hence the campaign insight that patients forget things from the present, but still remember things from the past.

Results

In only one day, the message about recognizing early signs of Alzheimer’s reached 68% of the entire Macedonian population*. As a result, in the following months, the number of people seeking early medical advice increased more than twice.** *Source: Nielsen Media Research **Source: National Neurological Institute

Execution

Several months of negotiation with the media outlets leading to the World's Alzheimer's day, were necessary to secure their support for the project. What helped was the "good cause" of the project, but also the organic and innovative way in which the media outlets were involved (research through their own archives to find the original stories mentioned by the patients and re-printing and re-airing them). Once a critical number of media outlets gave their support, the rest of the media didn't want to be left behind in such a nation-wide project for good cause.The final execution of the project on the 21st of September went without any problems.

The Situation

To raise awareness about recognizing early signs of Alzheimer's and to bring to life the creative idea The Front Pages From The Past - an extensive cooperation with the media outlets was crucial. With no available media budget but a "good cause" project that involved the media in an organic way, we approached the main newspapers and TV stations and asked them to join the project. After several months of negotiation we managed to get on board all leading media outlets to unite on World's Alzheimer's Day.

The Strategy

After research and consultations with the medical personnel form the National Neurological institute, the main campaign insight was identified - one the the only visible early signs of the disease is that patients have this strange ability to clearly remember thing from the past, but forget things happening around them daily. This insight could convey the message about recognizing early sighs of Alzheimer's in a clear and impact-full way. An extensive coordination and negotiation with the media followed in order to get all major media outlets to support the campaign.