This work is relevant to Direct because we were able to beat expected fundraising KPI's through technology and creativity.
The Children's Cancer Center of Lebanon is a free treatment center for children suffering from cancer. Every year it treats 300 children at no cost to their parents or families. In 2018, the cancer center proudly achieved an 80% average survival rate for its patients. The cancer center relies on donations by people and organizations to achieve this success rate and without the funding needed it wouldn't be able to treat this many children.
Lebanon suffers from one of the highest cancer rates in the world and with the economic situation in turmoil, the cancer center was finding it increasingly difficult to raise funds.
The center tasked us to create a campaign that would both raise awareness on their achievements and create an urgency to increase funds whilst doing that.
Describe the creative idea.
Research showed that fewer people sympathised with traditional fundraising advertising that showed children in hospitals or without hair. We needed to create a campaign that would inspire people to support and put the future of the patients in their hands.
Instead of telling people that they needed to donate to save a child, we showed them what the child can become if they donated, thanks to the 80% success rate. Using Artificial Intelligence we took 8-Year old cancer patient Reina and recreated her 10 years from now. The campaign was a film of Reina in future talking to the camera, we then cut back to her today with a message that says "Through artificial intelligence, we were able give a glimpse of Reina's bright future. Through your support, we can make sure she lives to see it."
Describe the strategy.
The objective of the film was for it to spread on social media channels. By doing something no one has ever done before, we knew it would have a viral effect. Our target audience was every single person in the country, young and old, as every dollar can make a difference. The 30-second ad of Future Reina launched on February 4th, World Cancer Day on all channels.
We set up an SMS hotline where people could send a blank text message to a number and this will automatically donate $1, making it extremely easy to support. As soon as the film hit social media it went viral, being shared by influencers and celebrities that had millions of followers. By the end of the first week, the campaign had raised $250,000 and the number continues to grow.
Describe the execution.
We knew that in order for this campaign to have a maximum effect, we need to create a future projection of Reina that was as close as possible to her future self. For this, we turned to artificial intelligence, working with a team of around 30 people over a period of 5 months to make it happen. We first shot footage of current Reina, saying her message today and in the future. We then took footage of Reina's family today and compared them to their childhood photos. Through an AI software that learns from people at a young and old age, we were able to create a mask of Reina's future based on data collected from her family and that of other people at a young and old age. This mask was then superimposed on current Reina to create the Future Reina film.
List the results.
The Future Reina campaign went viral almost instantly, being shared by A-list celebrities, every major influencer and even the Lebanese Prime Minister. Reina became a celebrity overnight with top TV channels requesting to have her on their shows and the campaign being covered by every major tv station and newspaper both locally and regionally. Future Reina reached 15 million people organically, but most importantly the campaign was able to raise over $250,000 in its first week, beating all expectations. The campaign continues throughout the month of February and we expect for the donations to continue to increase. Future Reina opened up a conversation on the positive impacts of artificial intelligence and showed how we can innovate for good.