We targeted people who have or care for toddlers and babies every day – parents, caregivers friends, as well as doctors and nurses. They carry their mobile phones with them everywhere they go, and they constantly take happy snaps of the children they care for, which meant they were best placed to see the early signs. What’s more, in the interest of saving children’s lives, they were the people who needed to hear our message the most.

Retinoblastoma is an aggressive eye cancer in children. An affected eye may look normal, but the pupil appears white when photographed with a flash. Which means everyone carries the tool to detect this cancer – their smartphone. Instead of telling our audience what signs to look for, we let them experience it with mobile-activated posters in doctor’s surgeries, nurseries, and hospitals across the UK. Our direct response campaign captured the audience in the perfect environment and moment – when a parent was with their child in their local GP. The posters encouraged immediate action – prompting our audience to photograph the poster, and then photograph their child to test for similar signs. The poster placement encouraged the next action – having your child checked by a doctor if their pupil appeared white. What’s more, the call to action was the very mechanic for detection.

Featuring four real-life Retinoblastoma survivors, our posters asked people to take a flash photo to see what eye cancer looks like. The child's eye appeared normal on the poster, but an innovative, highly reflective ink which we developed using a custom printing process made the pupil white in the photo, literally showing our audience what to look for. Thousands of posters were distributed in nurseries and doctor’s offices across London, and in the pediatric section of major hospitals across the UK – prime places to reach our audience at a moment where they had both the time (waiting to see a doctor) and the inclination to check their child (who was likely with them at that moment). We also created an online demonstration film, which gained quick traction due to the newsworthy nature of the campaign, and prompted a wider audience to use their smartphone in this unique way.

The media was our message in the posters. And the message became a media sensation. Due to the newsworthy nature of the posters, they were featured in national press – spreading our message to over 69 million people. The campaign received 200K shares on social. Our online video garnered over 900,000 views – without any paid seeding. Plus, the campaign generated views across all major continents, and prompted like-minded charities to get in touch to run the campaign themselves – carving out a place for CHECT as a world-leading charity for Retinoblastoma, as well as building and prolonging relationships with a global network. What’s more, the simple poster became something much greater. In this case, it’s now a useful interactive media for medical waiting rooms with genuine utility: educating people on detecting eye cancer using the new format in your pocket – your smart phone camera.

The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT) is a UK charity providing research and support for victims of Retinoblastoma – a deadly eye cancer that occurs in young children. An eye with this cancer looks normal, but appears as a white pupil in flash photos. Since we take photos with our smartphones more than anything else, we carry the key tool for detection with us, every day. With no budget whatsoever, our challenge was to raise awareness of this staggering insight, provoke an action, and raise the profile of the charity against a backdrop of so many charities vying for attention.