We are targeting radio listeners who potentially have sleeping disorders and undiagnosed insomnia.

As part of "It's a Dreamer's World" awareness campaign, we created a radio stunt to drive people's attention to sleep disorders in general and insomnia in particular: the first-ever binaural radio transmission.

Binaural waves have been studied for the induction of relaxation, meditation, creativity and other mental states. The phenomenum is perceived through headsets, when one of the stereo channels (left/right) delivers sounds at a slightly different frequency than the other. This difference generates the feeling of a "beat", which has an impact on the delta brain waves – and could actually drive a person into a relaxed state.

Following a week of radio spots covering the risks of insomnia and hints on how to sleep better, on Friday night Alpha FM aired a full hour of "binaural music" -- regular songs processed to produce the binaural effect when listened through headphones, to induce relaxation and prepare people to sleep.

Rx brands are not allowed to communicate directly with patients. Disease awareness campaigns are allowed, as long as they are unbranded and do not inspire fear in the population.

Sao Paulo is one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world. As a consequence, up to 40% of its inhabitants have insomnia 3 nights or more per week.

Although it may cause depression, hypertension, obesity and even diabetes, culturally insomnia is rarely considered a disease in itself. Therefore the diagnosis/treatment rate is very low.

The need for public awareness was clear. But we wanted to come up with something unique and impactful, and binaural waves seemed perfect for that.

Radio was the chosen media to provide a live simultaneous experience for thousands of people. And Alpha FM is already well known for its elegant, smooth musical programs.

This stunt did not have a script. It was an audio experience in which the songs normally played by Alpha FM were delivered with binaural waves, because of the way their frequencies were processed. [Please refer to the videocase -- it includes a sample of binaural waves which you can experience if you are using headphones]. Our objective was to offer a memorable experience, designed to help people relax, prepare them to sleep, and generate awareness as to the risks of untreated insomnia.