Dolls were sent to hospital waiting rooms across the UK, taking a non-traditional, ambient approach to out-of-home. Further outdoor placements were donated by media owners to support the cause for paediatric organ donation, including DOOH across the UK, on-train media and in pharmacies to reach our audience in medical environments where health was top of mind.

In the UK, child organ donation is a double opt-in system. Any family can join the NHS Organ Donor Register at any time, but if a child is eligible for donation, parents are asked a second time in hospital for their consent. Registering as an organ donor ensures that families are more likely to consent and increases the number of potential donors in a year.

• Situation: 233 children are on the waiting list for an organ donation in the UK. NHS Blood and Transplant have an urgent shortage of donors, with consent rates lower among younger age groups at just 52%. To give these children a higher likelihood of finding a lifesaving donation, the campaign urgently needed to change attitudes and encourage families to join the NHS Organ Donor Register.

• Brief: The brief was to make this invisible wait public, telling the real-life stories of children currently on the waiting list. By showing the world the wait these children face in the most unavoidable and poignant way, we could help end it and increase the likelihood of finding lifesaving donors.

• Objectives: The campaign set out to raise awareness of the children on the waiting list, changing attitudes towards paediatric organ donation and encouraging more families to join the NHS Organ Donor Register.

1.5 billion impressions through earned media alone

£14.6m earned media value

5000+ under-18 donor registrations

10% lift in under-18 opt-in registrations

-18% drop in under-18 opt-outs

115% rise in website visits

Each visitor listened to 3 stories on average

233 dolls appeared in hospital waiting rooms across the UK. Visitors were able to scan a QR code on the dolls, taking them to a microsite where they could listen to the real stories of children on the waiting list.