Australia is in the midst of a silent epidemic. 3.5 million people are living with some form of hearing loss, however 85% do nothing about it.

As the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, Cochlear’s biggest competitor is not a rival brand – it is the inaction of their potential customers. Many are in denial; others simply dismiss it as part of ‘growing old’. Untreated sufferers isolate themselves from social situations, losing connection with loved ones.

It is against this backdrop that Cochlear decided to launch their first major consumer facing campaign, aiming to:

- Raise awareness of the prevalence of hearing loss and get the nation talking about it

- Get those that are in denial or are ignoring their hearing loss, to recognise they have a problem and act

- Connect sufferers with Cochlear for a consultation, providing the platform to begin their path to rediscovering their hearing

Does Love Last Forever?’ follows Jake and Xanthe over four decades from when they first fall in love, develop a shared love of music, mature and have kids, all the way to the present day where the film resolves by posing the question: ‘Did love last?’

Depending on the viewers hearing ability, the film has two endings. For those who can hear well, their relationship remains loving. But for those hard of hearing, the couple’s relationship appears to deteriorate.

Extensive patient data from audiograms informed the script that used certain words with consonants such as T, S and F – which are harder to hear due to their higher frequency. The ability to lip read was taken away, body language was choreographed to be interpreted negatively, and ambient background noises were introduced to create confusion for those with hearing loss.

‘Does Love Last Forever?’ is a hearing test in disguise,

Crafting a film with two endings

-Working closely with audiologists we analysed audiograms from patients with varying levels of hearing loss. This patient data informed all aspects of the production of the film including the script, dialogue, locations, scenarios and sound design.

-We chose locations and scenarios that people who are hard of hearing have difficulty in (busy restaurant, heavy rain, TV playing). We introduced subtle sounds and background noises (passing cars, water sprinklers) to mask conversations.

-The ability to lip read was gradually taken away and body language was choreographed to be interpreted negatively.

A comprehensive digital experience

The film was just the beginning of a complex digital journey to evaluate the hearing ability of users:

•Social-led teasers led our target audience to the microsite to watch our film, without knowing it was a disguised test.

•After watching the film, users were prompted to take an interactive hearing assessment created using frequency specific audio and footage from the film, quantifying their degree of hearing loss.

•A negative result prompted data capture for a free consultation with Cochlear. This integrated with Cochlear’s lead nurture system, grading the score and placed them on the relevant treatment path.

•For those with good hearing, they could experience mild, moderate, severe hearing loss for themselves via a unique Hearing Loss Simulation.