Title	THE NEXT PHOTO
Brand	CHILDHOOD EYE CANCER TRUST
Product/Service	CHARITY
Category	A02. Creative Innovation (incl. business solutions in association with a brand or creative campaign)
Entrant Company	WUNDERMAN London, UNITED KINGDOM
Advertising Agency	WUNDERMAN London, UNITED KINGDOM

Name	Company	Position
Evan Jones	Wunderman	Art Director
Stefanie Digianvincenzo	Wunderman	Copywriter
Kevin Guild	Wunderman	Artworker
Kiran Mudhar	Wunderman	Account Director
Courtney Bain	Wunderman	Account Director
Anna-Maria Teemant	Wunderman	Account Executive
Annie Gass	Wunderman	Senior Strategist

The Brief

CHECT is small UK-based charity that fights to raise awareness and support for children and families affected by the eye cancer, Retinoblastoma. If the cancer is not detected early enough, in 90% of cases the disease results in one or both eyes being removed. And some children will die. So early detection had to be the basis of any strategic proposition. What was the one thing we could say, do or show that would help make that happen? Being a charity, there was no budget to speak of. So we talked to those who cared and knew the most: the parents of children in remission and discovered that the tumour – even in the early stages – appears as a white pupil in flash photos. And with more photos taken on a smartphones than any other camera, we immediately spotted an opportunity that nobody else had seen, or at least exploited: tell the world – every parent, uncle, aunty, relative, friend, carer, and medical professional – that they already have in their hands the technology to spot he warning signs of childhood eye cancer.

Instead of telling our audience what to look for, we let them experience it for themselves. Featuring four real-life Retinoblastoma survivors, we created a series of mobile-activated posters that encouraged people to take a flash photo of them and actually see for themselves how eye cancer would appear in real life. The child’s eye looked normal on the poster, but an innovative, highly reflective ink containing particles of silver made the pupil appear white in the flash photo: the tell-tale sign of eye cancer. In this way, we turned a simple poster into a useful, interactive medium with genuine medical utility. Crucially, there was a real ‘wow’ factor. It delivered significant emotional and cognitive impact the moment that people looked at the picture on their mobile and saw the white pupil. It was one ad they would never forget. To make people stop and think just like that, thousands of posters were distributed to nurseries and GP surgeries across London – and in the pediatric section of major UK hospitals – to reach parents of young children and professionals, like doctors, nurses, nannies and carers, many of whom had little or no understanding of Retinoblastoma. We also created an online demonstration film, to extend the reach of our campaign, featuring our little survivors, all of whom had been diagnosed thanks to flash photography. The innovative and newsworthy nature of the campaign meant it spread quickly, generating greater awareness of this unique way to use a mobile phone for good.

With no budget whatsoever, our only shot at gaining the awareness and action we needed was with a newsworthy story about a truly innovative, differentiating and life-changing use of tech. This was a true first. While smartphone’s can do a lot these days, never before has mobile been used as a medical tool for the detection of cancer. The campaign was picked up in mainstream, medical, tech and parenting press – spreading our message to over 69 million people. It also received 81.8K shares on Facebook and 122K shares on Twitter. Our online video garnered over 1 million views – without any paid seeding. And if that wasn’t enough, one of our proudest achievements has been the international reach of the campaign. It has generated views across all major continents and prompted like-minded international charities to ask to run the campaign themselves – carving out a place for CHECT as a world-leading charity for Retinoblastoma. We have put CHECT on the map for the first time in their 25 year history, giving them a story that they can own.