The Campaign

Based on the insight that people with hearing loss are in denial, we developed a way to test their hearing, without them knowing. ‘Does Love Last Forever?’ is a short film with two different endings, depending on the viewer’s hearing ability. It’s a hearing test in disguise. The film follows a couple’s relationship over four decades, and poses the question “Did love last?” For those who can hear well, their relationship remains loving. But the film is scripted and produced in such a way that people with a hearing problem perceive the relationship to deteriorate. The beauty of the idea lies in the parallel between the perceived deterioration of the on-screen relationship by hearing loss sufferers, and the growing disconnect they may be experiencing in their own life, due to hearing loss. This subtle reminder demonstrates the effects of a condition that they may have refused to admit.

Creative Execution

There are many complexities in creating a short film that doubles as a hearing test. It was achieved through complex orchestration of the script, direction and sound design. •Working with leading audiologists and sound engineers we analysed patient audiograms, developing a model of hearing loss to understand the specific frequencies and sounds that were inaudible to people at different stages of the hearing spectrum. •The film starts with a traditional mix - clean dialogue and clear editing, making it easy to follow for listeners of all abilities so they are drawn into the story line. As the scenes progress, so too does the complexity of techniques used to mask dialogue. •The blend of SFX and dialogue changes in scenes 3 and 4, set in locations with higher instances of background noise. The addition of interruptive sounds as confusion elements make for a very full soundscape, making it difficult to comprehend.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

We turned the hearing test on its head, disrupting the ambivalence of our audience and inspiring them to act. By creating a subtle, enjoyable and easily accessible hearing test, the campaign has exceeded all set KPIs: •Tested 113,407 Australian’s hearing in the first 16 weeks– people who normally may have not been tested •8,558 took a further hearing assessment •155,294 visitors to the microsite, with a bounce rate of only 3% •Average time on page is 14 minutes, demonstrating high engagement •Exceeded our key commercial objective of filling Cochlear’s sales funnel with 1,465 highly engaged, high value leads •Delivered a successful Return Ratio of 25:1. Most importantly, after experiencing the hearing test in disguise, our first candidate will be undergoing surgery to receive a life-changing Cochlear implant in mid-August this year.

Direct to consumer Cochlear had traditionally focused efforts on communicating directly to hearing professionals. However, with consumers not seeking hearing tests and decreasingly influenced by hearing professional’s, a bold strategic decision was made to communicate directly to consumers. We made the decision to go broad, targeting people over the age of 55 years as they are the ones likely to have early stage hearing loss and be doing nothing about it. Disrupt the denial 85% of hearing loss sufferers were denying or ignoring their symptoms. Considering this behavioural barrier, it was clear that we couldn’t just tell people they may have a problem, we had to demonstrate it. We needed to test peoples hearing without them knowing, catching them off guard when they least expected it at cinema and film festivals.