Various studies have shown that when people who stutter start rapping, their stutter disappears. Rapping makes it easier to control the speech movement from the brain. We created a free mobile app that uses rap to help children speak more fluently. Rap provides guidance and rhythm, which really helps people who stutter. Many stutter therapies lack fun speech exercises. The ‘Get The Flow’ app combines speech exercises with something kids do like: Dutch hip hop.
We collaborated with famous Dutch rappers, songwriters and the Dutch Stutter Federation. For every exercise they wrote special rap lyrics that make use of tongue twisters and alliterations that are hard to pronounce for children who stutter.
A custom-built timing system automatically recognizes if kids don’t stutter. Kids can see their improvements and share their tracks with other stuttering kids.
And they can connect to practice together, so they feel they’re not alone in this.
Creative Execution
We built the free app ‘Get The Flow’ that uses rap to help children who stutter speak more fluently. The app has a playful design and consists of multiple levels of difficulty. Special rap/stutter exercises were written that make use of tongue twisters, vowel, consonants and alliterations that are hard to pronounce for children who stutter. Children could connect to practice together and share their progress. On their profile page they could see their improvements and share the results with their stutter coaches.
The app was launched together with the Dutch Stutter Federation and singer/stutter ambassador Miss Montreal, capturing national and international attention. The documentary we created was shared through Vodafone’s social channels, rap influencers and medical platforms. We supported the launch of the app/documentary with a seeding budget and some paid media support, but over 90% of reach (online, newspapers, TV, radio) was generated through earned media.
67% of stuttering children used the app to practice speech (goal was 50%)! And it has helped thousands to improve their speech skills. The app (rated 4.1 star) is now an official stutter therapy, offered in 70 official stutter practices in the Netherlands. Social sentiment was 95% positive. The boy that starred in our documentary is now stutter free!
‘Get The Flow’ was featured in every major Dutch media title and picked up by many international media. We reached 66% of the Dutch population with an average contact frequency of 2.5 (target: 60% with contact frequency of 1). It got +89 million media impressions.
The media value we collected through earned media represented a value of €5.2 million.
57% of the people we reached connected the campaign to the Vodafone brand. It raised the brand on the brand image statements Positive Feeling +36%, Trust +18%, Innovative +77%, Emotional Connection +53%.
The Get The Flow app is downloaded 13.453 times. The number of children in the age group 6 to 12 years who suffer from stuttering in The Netherlands, is around 13.200 (sources: CBS, NFS/National Stutter Federation). The number of downloads exceeds the number of children in our target group that suffer from stuttering because a) stuttering children younger or older than our target group have downloaded the app, b) friends of the stuttering children that do not stutter have downloaded the app to do ‘rap battles’ with their stuttering friend. Based on input we received from the NFS (National Stutter Federation), we confidently estimated 2/3 (or 67%) of the stuttering children in our target group used the app.
In the Netherlands 5% of all children stutter: about one kid in every classroom. Many become victims of bullying, which causes low self-esteem. Insight: instead of practicing their speech by talking in public, children choose the easy alternative to communicate: their mobile phones. We tapped into this issue, because we saw mobile technology could make a real difference. We created an app for children aged 8-14 (at this age stuttering hinders them the most), to help them speak more fluently and connect with others.
In addition to the app itself, we created a documentary about a boy overcoming his stutter problem by using the app, to generate maximum impact and reach. His story became an example for other stuttering children. Video views, editorial pieces and social reached over 66% of the Dutch population. All linked to Vodafone’s Powerful Connections platform, displaying more ‘mobile technology for good’ projects from Vodafone NL.