Cancer is personal. It touches all of us. Whether you're a survivor yourself or you've been there to hold the hand of a loved one fighting for their life, you've felt the strength that comes from knowing you are not alone and the important role that hope plays in successful patient journeys. In support and in partnership with the American Cancer Society (ACS) to help raise awareness of Its Hope Lodge communities, Real Chemistry launched an interactive and digital platform, “Hopefall: A One-of-a-Kind Visualization of the Sound of Hope,” this holiday season. The goal of the campaign was to amplify the sound of the Hope Bell to bring hope to patients at the Hope Lodge.
ACS’ 30+ Hope Lodge communities across the country provide a free place to stay during treatment so people with cancer can focus on getting better. These communities provide comfortable guest suites with private baths, as well as inviting spaces with all the comforts of home, including a communal kitchen, dining area, laundry rooms, and places to gather or find a quiet respite – all at no cost to guests.
Hope Lodge guests don’t just find a place to stay – they find a community of support and an emotional connection with others facing the same journey. During the holiday season and throughout the year, Hope Lodges depend on the goodwill, donor gifts and public in-kind donations for operations.
Research
Our research started by understanding the impact of the ACS Hope Lodge. We looked at locations, why patients stay there, how much they appreciate their stay and the staff, what the experience is like, and what traditions happen there. We learned that patients at the Hope Lodge ring the Hope Bell to mark the end of treatment and that they have tradition of collecting messages of hope for patients. Those messages of hope during the holidays are both meaningful and uplifting for patients; we wanted to find a way to amplify them.
The Hope bell is a celebratory moment that marks the end of treatment—the end of one chapter and beginning of a new one. Many videos of the ringing of the Hope bell can be found online and everyone cheers and claps as the bell rings. But it’s a fleeting moment, only lasting a few seconds, yet so memorable and special for patients. So, we thought, what if we could make this bell moment last forever to amplify hope?
Strategy
Hopefall is inspired by the symbolism behind patients ringing the “Hope Bell,” which symbolizes reaching the finish line of their cancer treatment. Using cymatics – the study of visible sound and vibration – users can turn the audio of ringing the Hope Bell into a unique sound wave image - very much like a snowflake -- or “soundflake.” Just like snowflakes, independent healthcare journeys are completely unique– just like every patients’ story of survivorship and hope. The collection of soundflakes and stories of hope will be shared both with current patients seeking refuge at the American Cancer Society’s 30+ Hope Lodge locations, and to anyone undergoing care.
Execution
We worked with a digital team to turn the sound of the Hope Bell into a stunning visual, where every sound from the patient’s bell became part of the unique geometric shape of the soundflake. Each one is unique just like each patient’s cancer journey. Every fiber, every line, even the way the soundflake animates, is a direct representation of the patient’s bell ringing audio.
To launch the campaign, we went directly to the Hope Lodge on 32nd Street in NYC and made it snow hope—literally. NYC was in a snow drought, it had been over 637 days since it snowed, so we made it happen outside the Hope Lodge and specifically for patients.
For anyone outside of NYC, we brought the snowfall to life at home through a custom-created AR filter that features real patient soundflakes floating. This element of the campaign launched on Instagram to coincide with the snowfall in NYC.
The Hopefall website was on display to invite passersby to write a message of hope for patients. The site will live on beyond the holidays at JoinTheHopefall.com.
The overall campaign generated more than 2.2 million social impressions. The website itself had 1,400+ unique users from 25 different countries from Dec. 18, 2023 – Jan. 9, 2024.
So, in less than a month’s time, we got the message about Hope Lodge to global audiences and collected nearly 400 messages of hope for cancer patients and survivors. And more importantly, we gave cancer patients at Hope Lodges across the country the gift of a little extra hope during the holiday season. Hope that can now be captured and kept forever on a website that will live on beyond the holidays at JoinTheHopefall.com.
