Listerine was looking for a way to create a deeper connection with their consumers, in particular showing that we understood our potential consumers’ needs.

The combined focus for the film and the app is on the emotional story of how the app helps blind people ‘feel’ the exact moment when somebody is smiling at them.

The film is a heart-warming reminder of the importance of everyday non-verbal human communication (smiles) and one that a large proportion of humanity (sighted people) takes for granted.

The Listerine Smile Detector app contains facial recognition technology that can detect when a human face smiles and in turn makes the phone vibrate to signal the smile. Although created with the blind community specifically in mind it is available for everybody to download and use.

We interviewed blind people about the role or lack of role a smile has in their lives and then filmed their reactions of joy as they used the Listerine Smile Detector app for the first time. The film was a heart-warming reminder of the importance of a smile in non-verbal communication, something that sighted people take for granted.

The film was initially launched on YouTube, with a Masthead takeover on the first day. To generate maximum reach and sharing, we also opted for YouTube pre-rolls on audience-relevant content. The app was simultaneously made available for download on iOS and Android. Promoted posts on Facebook featured ‘teaser’ versions of the film, directing to YouTube.

A combination of national press exposure and influencer outreach was used during the campaign. It achieved high organic engagement, attracting comments such as a mum of a blind seven-year-old boy whose Facebook received over 1,684 likes.

Video view targets were over-reached by 286% seizing over 4m views to date. Video sharing and app downloads are at4.6k and rising, and the campaign has spread worldwide reading as far as Brazil.

The campaign received top-tier online media coverage including the Daily Mail, Metro and Fox 29 News. Trade media coverage was positive with Campaign Live naming the Feel Every Smile app as the top digital innovation of 2015.

The most satisfying and up-lifting outcomes have been the postive reactions from the public, especially from those within the blind community. “It was the best feeling ever seeing my blind 7 year old smiling when he realized that his brother with Asperger’s which doesn’t show emotion in his voice was smiling at him, it was amazing and very emotional...”

One of the most successful launches for Listerine in Europe achieving US$24m above sales targets.