'I was missing things one-to-one, I would have a half hour conversation with someone and wouldn't understand a word. I hoped they wouldn't ask me anything.'

Those are the words of Jennie Brand-Miller, aged 65. Jennie was a long-time hearing loss sufferer who eventually sought help from Cochlear and has since had her hearing restored.

There are thousands of Australians like Jennie. They live a life of compromise, hiding their hearing loss from others, and delaying seeking help.

We had to find a way to help people engage with their hearing ability, as it had become the 'invisible disability'. Our strategy was to make it visible.

We will always remember the day when Audiologist Emma Ramsay said, 'no two people hear the world the same, your hearing is as unique as your fingerprint.'

This would become our inspiration for Cochlear Hearprint. An application that bypasses the internet's 'one size fits all' audio, calibrating online content to your unique hearing ability.

Hearprint turns every video, TV show and audio track on the internet, into a moment to remind Australians of their unique hearing ability. In addition, the Hearprint itself is a data visualisation of how the individual hears the world.

Data sits at the core of Hearprint.

The data calibration enabled real-time audio from the documentaries to be augmented, allowing users to alter the decibel level of individual frequencies within a piece of media from the film while it was playing.

As mentioned previously, a dynamic data visualisation was generated for each user. This doubled as the core user interface, and visualisation of each users hearing.

Audiologist data helped defined parameters within each frequency band based on normal hearing, as well as mild, moderate and severe hearing loss. This allowed us to isolate users unique hearing proficiency at each frequency level and inform whether their hearing was deemed 'normal' or 'abnormal', a critical data point for Cochlear's lead nurture program.

Hearprint also captured whether users had existing hearing support (i.e. hearing aids) to enable Cochlear to place them on the relevant treatment path.

From a targeting perspective, look-a-like, interest and behavioural data was used to create two prospecting audience profiles: people with hearing loss but no hearing aid, and people with hearing aids. This allowed the digital advertising element of Hearprint to be truly tailored and personalised.

At the time of writing this paper, the paid media activity was 8 weeks into an 8 month campaign.

* 40,345 people unique visitors to the campaign website which housed Hearprint and the two documentaries.

* Average time on site is 9 minutes 29", 265% more than the Cochlear.com average.

* 4,158 have set their Hearprint, giving Cochlear a view of their hearing ability.

* 60% (2,512) of the Hearprints set to date have been identified as 'abnormal', indicating Cochlear could help.

* 586 high-value leads are already talking Cochlear experts about the most relevant treatment path. We are on track to exceed our target.

Hearprint has also attracted enormous media interest, securing morning TV, metro newspaper, national radio, online news, and international coverage. We estimate the activity has reached over 30 million people already.

Hearprint is software that activates Cochlear's brand purpose - to help transform the way people understand and treat hearing loss.

In a country where hearing loss is often called the 'invisible disability', this application was the first to make hearing visible with a piece of software that turns every video, TV show and audio track on the internet, into a moment to remind Australians of their unique hearing ability.

The software tracks changes in hearing ability over time, meaning Cochlear can use engagement to identify the ideal moment to start a conversation about the user's hearing loss.

Two elements of this data driven strategy make it unique.

First, the gathering and interpretation of data to create Hearprint. Data is processed and visualised from user inputs to form a personalised interface, and individual listening experience.

The data is gathered against four frequencies - identified by audiologists as some of the most important for human hearing. A dynamic Hearprint visualisation is generated for each user. For most, this was the first time they had 'seen their hearing ability'.

Hearprint can then be updated by the user over time, giving Cochlear a data-led view of how people's hearing changes. Cochlear then uses this information to identify the ideal time to have a conversation with the user about their hearing.

Secondly, the use of first and third-party data that informed the targeting.

We had to find the audience that Hearprint was most relevant to and identifying the 12% of Australians who suffer some sort of hearing loss is not an easy task.

Our lead-generation media buy had to be data-led to find a very niche audience. We leveraged Cochlear's 1st party customer data profiles, combining them with 3rd party behavioural and interest data to improve efficiencies.

12% of Australians suffer some sort of hearing loss, this number is expected to double over the coming decades. As hearing deteriorates, it takes sufferers seven years on average to seek help.

The delay leads to social isolation, loss of relationships, reduced quality of life, and an increased likelihood of depression and cognitive decline.

In 2017, the World Health Organisation found that early detection is critical to reduce social and emotional impacts.

Cochlear, the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, wants Australians to understand, identify and act on their hearing loss, before it's too late.

Objective #1: Commercial - attract 1,843 highly qualified leads into Cochlear's sales funnel over 12 months.

Objective #2: Purpose - help transform the way people understand and treat hearing loss.