Permitting, licensing, and health code restrictions prevented on-site tattooing at the SXSW activation. Instead we provided temporary tattoos as well as tech tattoos that were both designed by an artist partner, and social media contest winners were awarded $500 towards a tattoo at a parlor of their choice.

Hydration is a key factor in kidney health. But at SXSW with its colorful nightlife, most folks aren’t thinking about it. We changed all that with an event called the Heart Your Kidneys Inkstream.

Inspired by the tattoos transplant recipients proudly display, we worked with celebrity artist Tommy Helm and researchers at Northwestern University to invent a wearable patch that measures hydration levels. We handed these out along with smart water bottles that synced to your smart phone, so festival goers could monitor their hydration and keep their kidneys healthy no matter how much fun they had the night before.

They could also compete for a real tattoo by posting temporary tats designed by Tommy at #HeartYourKidneys, further driving home our kidney health message, a natural hit with Austin’s hip crowd. And it didn’t hurt that it all took place out of a vintage Airstream towed by a hot-rodded Chevy.

We launched at during National Kidney Month at SXSW to elevate the conversation during a time of peak attention. Digitally, we collected and shared stories of kidney love and commemoration on our microsite, and published three campaign videos and five patient tattoo session videos, including a Facebook Live of actor Adam David Thompson getting inked at Three Kings, and a video that was viewed over 9,000x.

In Austin, we built a custom “Inkstream” trailer and gave away temporary tattoos designed by artist Tommy Helm, and tech tattoos and smart water bottles that monitored hydration of attendees. Attendees left messages for kidney patients and donors on a graffiti wall that tore away at the end of the festival to reveal a message of commitment to kidney love: #HeartYourKidneys. Attendees who used #HeartYourKidneys on social media were entered to win a $500 credit to a tattoo parlor of their choice.

On National Kidney Day, #HeartYourKidneys was the top mention on Thunderclap with a social reach of 900K. The campaign was covered in each of the 50 states, with over 2700 articles and airtime on local and national television channels. Combining traditional, earned, and social media, our total audience reach was estimated at 140 million. Our campaign and Scars & Ink videos received over 233,000 total views.

Compared to an average month on social media, mentions of NKF quintupled, follower growth doubled, and posts saw a 20% increase in engagement - showing that the campaign hit home with the NKF community and expanded audience reach across platforms so that more people than ever were showing kidney love.

The SXSW activation championed taking our kidney health into our own hands, shedding light on the often misunderstood and undiagnosed issue of Chronic Kidney Disease which affects 10% of the world's population. Technology and creativity combined to ink the stories (literally and figuratively - and digitally) of living donors and recipients - inspiring SXSW attendees to learn more about their own vital organs and invest in their own vitality. Visitors explored a custom designed “Inkstream” trailer in Austin while receiving temporary tattoos, testing hydration-monitoring tech tattoos, and sharing messages of love with kidney patients worldwide.

The tattoos originated from the bond between transplant donors and recipients that is often commemorated with ink. Already native to kidney disease treatment, we used the tattoo mechanism to naturally connect the NKF cause with the SXSW demographic, and make it a bit “cooler” in the process.

SXSW was a natural timing fit with National Kidney Month and Day, and we set a mission to get the “trendsetters” of SXSW to truly ink a commitment to something long-term, like their kidney health, rather than focus only on the latest fad. The tech focus of the festival was a perfect fit for our tech tattoos and smart water bottles, both which helped to hydrate festival goers (and protect kidneys) in an often hot and hard-partying environment.

Situation.

For 67 years the National Kidney Foundation has tirelessly worked to understand, treat, and prevent Chronic Kidney Disease. But as hard as they tried, kidneys still weren’t cool and NKF was seen as a scientific organization. Not being cool paid a price, as most of the 26 million American adults have kidney disease and don’t know it.

Brief.

Engage existing and new audiences with NKF and CKD in a tangible and active way - counteracting slacktivism to promote real commitment and change. Inspired by commemorative tattoos between kidney donors and recipients, we aimed to ink the message of kidney love on everyone’s mind - and on their skin - in a way that was more “cool” than “clinical”.

Objectives.

We’d raise awareness for the organization and the disease, increasing understanding and relevance of both while ensuring a future where we were all more kidney healthy.