Health communications and the insurance industry are highly regulated within the U.S., governed by departments of insurance from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories and federal bodies. This campaign involved close collaboration with Aflac’s compliance and legal teams to work within all relevant restrictions.

Many childhood cancer patients face 1,000 days of treatment and life-long physical and emotional impacts. They need more than medicine to cope – and coping correlates to better outcomes. But, social-emotional health is under-resourced. Now, an innovative social robot is changing lives by fostering emotional wellbeing of childhood cancer patients.

Aflac spent 23 years and $123M supporting the childhood cancer cause. Yet, few knew of Aflac’s philanthropy. Even fewer associated the brand with cancer insurance, which it pioneered.

Aflac needed a breakthrough to amplify brand and philanthropic messages – something tangible, ownable, emotional, scalable and relevant nationwide. Research revealed an under-met need: emotional support for childhood cancer patients, facing an average 1,000 days of treatment with lasting physical and emotional impacts. Aflac wanted an experience for children facing cancer beyond toys that could positively impact outcomes.

Studies show play is invaluable for seriously ill children, who often act out treatments with toys during stressful regimens to regain a sense of control during years of treatment.

Objectives included reaching the more than 15,000 children diagnosed with cancer each year; aligning Aflac’s brand with the childhood cancer cause; and igniting a social movement.

My Special Aflac Duck is not a toy, it’s an experience. With four patents pending, it’s a first-of-its-kind social robot that promotes proactive personal care through communication and engaging play for children facing childhood cancer.

The duck facilitates nurturing medical play: users feed, bathe and administer treatments to their duck, and calm their duck and themselves through breathing exercises. It features lifelike movement (nuzzling to touch, moving to music), emotions (emoji cards allow the duck to express feelings), medical accessories, and a Bluetooth-enabled app encouraging children to play and communicate, helping them cope with cancer.

This inspired approach to an under-resourced aspect of healthcare brings Aflac’s brand icon to life as a robotic duck, tangibly reflecting its brand ethos and caring-innovator archetype. As a childhood cancer ambassador, it captures the public imagination, promoting the need for greater public health services: pediatric cancer receives just 4% of U.S. government cancer funding.

Aflac engaged a leading social impact agency to rethink its philanthropy. Dozens of interviews with pediatric cancer experts and deep-dive research into hundreds of articles surfaced patients’ unmet need for emotional support.

Strategists created the Aflac Childhood Cancer Campaign(SM), a holistic program, and conceptualized My Special Aflac Duck, a caring companion modeled on Aflac’s brand icon. This met Aflac’s criteria for meaningful social impact that was tangible, ownable, emotional, scalable and relevant nationwide.

Aflac selected a creative R&D workshop which met with childhood cancer patients and experts to create patient journey maps. This 18-month, user-centered design process at a top hospital involved 85+ patients, families and medical professionals who informed the duck’s features and functionality.

Aflac also assembled a new Advisory Council of external experts to guide the program and meet evolving philanthropic and reputational goals.

Launching at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show built credibility for My Special Aflac Duck as a health-related technology. There, it won three awards, including the Tech for a Better World CES Innovation Award. Momentum continued as Aflac featured and demonstrated My Special Aflac Duck at pediatric cancer, innovation and health conferences nationwide. It was named a Time Magazine Best Invention of 2018.

A new Advisory Council and relationships with leading childhood cancer organizations like Children’s Oncology Group, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and the Association of Child Life Professionals amplified credibility and reach.

As a sophisticated tool for childhood cancer patients, not a toy, My Special Aflac Duck is only available through U.S. cancer facilities, where Aflac donates the duck free-of-charge to childhood cancer patients, ages 3+. Without any formal marketing, distribution began in September 2018, with pediatric oncology facilities pre-ordering hundreds of ducks. Aflac expects to deliver 10,000+ by year-end.

More than 15,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year; as of Q1 2019, 3,100 children in 143 hospitals in 44 states have received My Special Aflac Duck, exceeding Aflac’s Q4 distribution goal by 25%, and already exceeding its Q1 2019 goals.

In Aflac-commissioned, hospital-led research, 69% of patients reported reduced stress after using the duck, and 82% of parents recommend it to others. Independent studies show the way a child copes with cancer can impact chronic stress, which can complicate cancer; communication about the illness relates to better outcomes.

My Special Aflac Duck has won 27 awards and gained more than 2 billion earned media impressions in just five days, overachieving all targets. This campaign helped drive a three-point increase in Aflac’s Reputation Institute scores, correlating with increases in trust and purchase intent, and contributing to a 2018 total new sales increase of 3.2%.