SickKids Airbnb was a first-of-its-kind experience that dropped Canadians right into a hospital bed for a night to witness the harsh reality in the PICU themselves.

The campaign started on digital with a real listing on Airbnb. Then, we welcomed notable Torontonians, media and the public to take a look behind the curtain. We worked with doctors and nurses to create a replica room that was indistinguishable from the real thing. Before long, the disturbing lack of space and privacy was all too apparent to our guests, whose reactions were featured in

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is widely known as a world-leading pediatric hospital. The reality is that the infrastructure, some of which was built in 1949, now presents a daily obstacle for doctors, staff, and families. Yet, based on recent brand health surveys, the majority of those familiar with SickKids do not understand the urgent need for a new hospital. With nearly $400 million in fundraising still needed to build a new hospital, we had to create a spectacle that grabbed attention, drove awareness, and combatted the current perception of SickKids as a state-of-the-art facility.

To get target donors to recognize the desperate need for a new SickKids hospital, it would require people to experience the reality firsthand. So, we transformed a hospital boardroom into an exact replica of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and recreated the experience patients, family members, and staff live every day. No detail was missed, including hand-written charts, worn tape on the floor, even the constant beeping of machines.

Then we partnered with Airbnb and invited the public to stay the night. The experience was made available to consumers through a real listing that highlighted the shocking limitations of the space. The experience was valued at $16,744, the cost to operate a four-patient room in the PICU for one night. Those who saw behind the curtain themselves immediately understood the need for a new hospital.

Primary research revealed that over 80% of our target audience assumed that SickKids Hospital was a state-of-the-art facility, and a well-funded organization. That’s a problem because donors want to maximize the impact of their donations, resonating with causes that are in urgent need of support. We discovered that our target donors didn’t rally behind the desperate need for a new hospital because the shiny image of SickKids was masking the cracks in the building’s infrastructure.

We had to close the huge gap between the glossy perception and the day-to-day reality of being a patient, family member, or staff in an archaic building. Partnering with Airbnb allowed the public to experience this reality for themselves. And while brand tie-ups with Airbnb have become more and more frequent, ours was the first to take the collaboration in a poignant and eye-opening direction – a brave departure for Airbnb’s brand tone.

First, we transformed a spare boardroom in the hospital into an exact replica of the PICU down to the smallest detail. To ensure accuracy, we conducted over 30 hours of interviews with doctors and past patient families to get a true sense of the impact of the outdated infrastructure. We then created a 3-hour experience including a 100-track soundscape and live reenactments that featured SickKids doctors, nurses, and voice recordings from real families for a truly authentic, immersive experience.

Our listing was posted live and available to the public on Airbnb for $16,744 a night. To catapult the conversation, we invited notable Torontonians to stay the night. The reactions from the guests, including Fred Van Vleet from the NBA Champion Toronto Raptors, became the basis for our online videos that were also leveraged on their channels to widen the impact.

SickKids Airbnb has generated over 139 million earned media impressions, 120 million of which were earned within the first 7 days from over 245 pieces. The Airbnb listing garnered over 26,000 visits, making it one of the most viewed in Canada. In one day, SickKids Airbnb earned over 2.5 hours of broadcast air time, driving mass awareness and changing perceptions.

Since launch, SickKids Foundation has seen a 28% increase in new users to its site, a 25% increase in traffic/page views, and, most importantly, a 27% increase in donation revenue.

The activation was so successful, that what was meant to be a temporary installation was made permanent, now used by the hospital as a more realistic training environment. Finally, the experience was written into a research paper that has been presented at international medical conferences and is currently being considered for publication in a prominent medical journal.