The strategy used mobile as never before: as a handheld cancer detector. This was based on our insight that, if the childhood eye cancer, Retinoblastoma, reflects back as a white pupil in flash photos, then anybody with a camera phone has the technology to detect it – saving eyes and lives. People could experience firsthand that they possessed the power to detect the cancer Retinoblastoma, we created smartphone-activated posters of children’s eyes that prompted the viewer to take a flash photo. A special reflective ink made the pupil appear white in their photo – just as it would with cancer.
Results and Effectiveness
• 69 million people were shown how to detect the early signs of Retinoblastoma.
• 200K organic shares on social channels.
• 1 million views on YouTube – without any paid seeding.
• CHECT website traffic increased by 63% with a 40% increase in traffic via mobile.
• Social traffic nearly doubled, with a much wider spread of referrers compared to the same period last year.
We demonstrated that mobile is more than just media – it is the message, it is the response mechanism, the social distribution network and the basis of the insight, giving our campaign cultural relevance.
Creative Execution
Reaching 69 million people via press, 1 million views and 200K shares of our online video, our story was picked up by TV stations and like-minded international charities who asked to run the campaign. We turned the smartphone into a handheld cancer detector – no app required. The innovative and newsworthy nature of the campaign meant it spread quickly, generating greater awareness of this unique way to use your mobile phone.
Insights, Strategy and the Idea
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.