EYES THAT TELL STORIES

TitleEYES THAT TELL STORIES
BrandSINGAPORE EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (SERI)
Product / ServiceMEDICAL RESEARCH
CategoryA03. Best Use of Live Events, Stunt and/or Celebrity Endorsement
EntrantTBWA\GROUP SINGAPORE Singapore , SINGAPORE
Entrant Company:TBWA\GROUP SINGAPORE Singapore, SINGAPORE
PR/Advertising Agency:TBWA\GROUP SINGAPORE Singapore, SINGAPORE

Credits

Name Company Position
John Merrifield TBWA\Group Singapore Creative at large
Mohan Prabhakar, Joseph Tay,Oz Dean TBWA\Group Singapore Creative Head
Mohan Prabhakar, Brandon Joosa, John Sheterline TBWA\Group Singapore Copywriters
Joseph Tay, Chong Wei Lun, Simon Chew TBWA\Group Singapore Art Directors
Lou Dela Pena, Sharon Tan, Elyn Ong, Joanna Chua TBWA\Group Singapore Account Service
Jean Abideen, Kirkwilfred Lim, Sharon Tay TBWA\Group Singapore Producers
Holger Castritius, Allen Pattiselanno, Raine Chai TBWA\Group Singapore Digital Producer
Danny Teo, Camille Rosario TBWA\Group Singapore Digital Art Director
Ed Cryer TBWA\Group Singapore Digital Designer
Beth Kennedy, Wang Hui Bin, Lim Pei Xuan TBWA\Group Singapore PR Specialists
Alexis Di Montaigu TBWA\Group Singapore Planner
Tony Chew TBWA\Group Singapore developer
PHISH Communications Pte Ltd Event specialists
Jorg Sunderman, Teo Studio, Joseph Ho Photographers
President S R Nathan, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Ministe
Codigo Pte Ltd Interactive
Magic3 Digital Imaging
Professor Wong Tien Yin, Professor Aung Tin , Sharmila Kannan, Serene Ho, Ravi C Singapore Eye Reserach Institute (SERI) Clients

The Campaign

“Eyes that tell stories” was a photographic art exhibition inspired by the next frontier of eye research. Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) is developing eye-imaging techniques that can predict the future. A simple eye scan can tell you about health risks you face, ranging from eye problems to heart disease and stroke. Faced with low awareness of its research and its potential to save lives all around the world, the exhibition aimed to get not just the medical fraternity but all Singaporeans engaged with SERI's breakthrough eye research. The exhibition featured artistically rendered images of the eyes of well known Singaporeans. Including media personalities, sportsmen, celebrity chefs, comedians and even the founding father of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. Each eye image had a terminal in front of it with a tablet PC. Taking the picture of the eye "unlocked" the person who's eye it was and his story. By the end of 10 days of the exhibition, it had been covered by most major TV stations, publications and online blogs. With zero ad spend, earned media worth over 1 million Singapore Dollars had been achieved.

The Brief

We are trying to raise the profile of SERI within the general public that SERI does clinical applications/ trials for the prevention and treatment of sight threatening eye disorders, particularly those relevant to Asia. We also want the general public to be proud of what SERI is doing. The “Eyes That Tell Stories” campaign needed to highlight SERI’s ongoing contributions to eye research and drive awareness for Eyes That Tell Stories. We also needed to capture the attention of corporate supporters and high net worth individuals for the exclusive fund raising Gala Dinner.

Results

77 press articles and mentions both locally and in some regional/global titles, with a total PR Value of $1,189,445.37 (and counting) Key media coverage in The Straits Times (2 articles), Lianhe Zaobao, Today and their online counterparts. Mediacorp Ch 8 Mandarin News covered the news story, along with related MediaCorp portal XinMSN. The MediaCorp clip showcases on-screen interview with SERI's Director, Prof. Wong Tien Yin (in English, with Chinese subtitles). The Straits Times article online has been reposted by blogs, both local and foreign online news media, based on the news relevance and mentions of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s eye image. Generated keen interest and public attendance in the “Eyes That Tell Stories” Exhibition - repeated broadcast news stories provided awareness building for SERI's work.

Execution

The “Eyes That Tell Stories” exhibition was listed on key major online and daily news print event listings sections as a pre-cursor to a formal launch. An exclusive pre-campaign interview with conducted with the Straits Times, which landed a Page three feature on the Exhibition. Story angles were tailored for each media type, such as the eye research story for health related media, and the first of its kind art exhibition collaboration between an eye research institute and an ad agency for lifestyle titles. On the first day of the exhibition, a press conference was conducted for key press, including all major daily newspapers, broadcast and lifestyle publications. Subsequently, S R Nathan officiated the opening of the exhibition, which allowed for another round of photojournalists and camera crew to cover the event again. Singapore Tatler was offered exclusive coverage for the Gala Fund Raising Dinner.

The Situation

SERI is the key eye research institute in Singapore and its work benefits both the local and global medical community. SERI competes with a number of more established organisations for government funding (eg. National Medical Research Council ( NMRC), Biomedical Research However, low awareness about SERI posed a challenge when planning for a fund raising programme. With zero ad spend, SERI needed to drive interest and awareness amongst the general public, business partners and peers from the medical industry, about its inaugural fund raising. It required an intensive, high impact media outreach campaign to the general public and potential donors.

The Strategy

The announcements for the “Eyes that tell Stories” Exhibition leveraged on the support from personalities such as former Minister Mentor, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Celebrities, Gurmit Singh, Fann Wong and His Excellency Mr S R Nathan, who would officially launch the exhibition. SERI reached out to its network of contacts to secure a generous support from 14 high profile personalities, from sportsmen, celebrities and mers The pitch was about Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s eye image as a news hook for general news media. An exclusive media partnership was arranged with The Singapore Tatler – this partnership profiled SERI to readers of the luxury lifestyle publication, and a letter of appeal was circulated along with the July issue of the leading magazine – calling for support of the Gala Fund Raising Dinner in late July.