2017 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The Alzheimer’s Association wanted to raise awareness amongst a younger audience but young people don't want to listen about illnesses that effect the old. We did this by making them experience the symptoms of Alzheimer's (confusion, memory loss and disorientation) without them knowing. In 3 Karaoke venues we secretly changed the lyrics of famous songs. By altering the lyrics, we gave the unsuspecting performers a taste of what it feels like to be confused and disoriented; the daily struggles of an Alzheimer's patient. At the end of the songs, our main message followed on screen explaining what had just happened, triggering a very emotional reaction to the audience present.

Creative Execution

In Lebanon and in the UAE, we ran this experience in 3 well-known Karaoke venues, where we secretly changed the lyrics of some famous songs. By altering the lyrics, we gave the unsuspecting performers a taste of what it feels like to experience confusion, disorientation and memory loss i.e. symptoms of Alzheimer's. At the end of the songs, our main message followed on screen explaining what had just happened, triggering a very emotional reaction to the audience present. The same was shared online and through the association itself driving both physical and emotional engagement.

In less than 1 week the idea went viral reaching tens of thousands of people Receiving critical acclaim in the World Innovation Summit for Dementia in Doha, Qatar with more than 20 countries present The video was also featured in the December Newsletter of Alzheimer Disease International (ADI) which is an organisation grouping 65 countries But more importantly, the number of volunteers skyrocketed Volunteers increased by 64% and awareness amongst the youth increased by 78%

This live experiment at its core enabled our initiative to provide a clear message and an experiential engagement with our direct target; the unaware youth. It got us to be closer to our target, engaged them on a personal level, while ensuring that they actually go through the same experience that our Alzheimer's patients go through, even if for a brief moment. And, it proved to be very successful.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Our objective was to target the young people, who are not aware of what it feels like to have Alzheimer's, to understand this disease in a simple yet effective manner, with a straight forward objective encouraging them to react. We followed the youth in their own context, and used a platform they are familiar with and relate to; Music. While targeting them on ground with our live event, we reached them on a personal level offline, then engaged with them online where our experiment went viral reaching a wider target and outreaching our objectives.