Listen to the sound of cancer plus...5 more innovative use of audio.
Visual media constantly bombards our senses, with people immersed in their phones as they navigate the streets. However, it's also true that more and more of us are donning headphones at every conceivable opportunity. The rising popularity of podcasts, social audio, voice messaging, and innovative technologies has flipped the switch from "sound off" to "sound on" in our daily lives. Here are some great audio-centred advertising campaigns starting with this inspiring project from Grey Health & Wellness, WPP, and ASCO.
Sound of Cancer | ASCO | WPP | 2023
Grey Health & Wellness, in collaboration with WPP and ASCO, aimed to highlight the impact of cancer treatments by capturing the sound of cancer cells being destroyed. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital used cutting edge tech to isolate the sounds of breast and lung cancer cells at the moment of cellular death. This groundbreaking achievement allowed the WPP agency team to record the first-ever sound frequencies generated during the process of cancer cell destruction. This audio was then transformed into a musical composition by a team of composers. With the understanding that cancer affects one in three individuals, the project seeks to demonstrate the significance of treatment, inspire hope and promote advancements in cancer research.
Sweeper | United Nations | UNMAS & Critical Mass | 2014
Give people touring the UN building the chance to feel what it's like to step on a landmine. Most of us will never understand the terror and human cost that comes from living with land mines. To raise awareness for the fight against land mines, UNMAS and Critical Mass created an iBeacon-powered virtual minefield to make it possible for New Yorkers to experience the fear millions live with every day.
Laugh Tracker | Tennessee Dept of Tourism | VMLY&R | 2021
Embrace audio and GPS technology to track laughs to give reviews for family days out. No one tells the truth quite like a child will. And no one knows exactly what they do and do not like, like a child. When it comes to tourism it can be difficult for a brand to be seen as authentic when promoting themselves, so Tennessee Tourism partnered with attractions across the state to create a ‘Kids Reviewed’ campaign. Part of this was the ‘Laugh Tracker’, a wearable device that measures laughter and the child’s heart rate to capture excitement. Alongside this, a booth was located at attractions where kids could give an honest review of their day. By giving the power to the children, potential customers could use the Kids Reviewed website, knowing the reviews would always be genuine.
Saylists | Warner Music Group | Dublin Agency | 2021
Flip speech therapy from being boring to fun through the power of music. There’s nothing quite so dull as hearing the same thing over and over, or if you have a speech impediment having to say the same thing over and over again. Knowing that one in 12 children in the UK have a speech impediment and benefit from repetition strategies, Warner Music and Rothco came up with an entertaining way to flip the boring nature of repetition into one that would appeal to kids. By collaborating with Apple Music to conduct data analysis on popular songs, they were able to create a bank of 173 songs that had significant patterns of repetition, meaning the kids could use these for invaluable repetition practice while getting to have fun at the same time.
Highway Gallery | Louvre Abu Dhabi | TBWA\RAAD | 2018
Reimagine a boring highway as an immersive art gallery using radio. The Louvre Abu Dhabi opened in 2017 with a world-class collection of treasures and fine art spanning thousands of years. At launch, the museum welcomed large crowds but after just a few months visitor traffic dwindled. In partnership with TBWA\RAAD the museum needed to create a campaign to attract locals - who were generally disinterested - to the museum. Enter “Highway Gallery,” a series of masterpieces from Louvre Abu Dhabi displayed along the most highly-trafficked road in the UAE. The project integrated OOH and radio, with interpretations of each piece broadcast through the speakers of each passing car. This novel approach successfully helped change local attitudes and the museum succeeded in its goal of attracting more visitors.