The Campaign

Project Retiree Rescue - Philips looks to the most appropriate talent pool in a mission to save lives. Retirees from all walks of life, who now enjoy more time in their community were recruited and trained to join the movement as certified AED + CPR providers. The very demographic group that is more prone to sudden cardiac arrests, now takes on the responsibility of being first responders instead. In collaboration with Singapore Heart Foundation's instructors, with hands-on training with Philips HeartStart AED, retirees are empowered to overcome the mental stigma and encouraged to shift from being a bystander to a rescuer.

Creative Execution

To launch the movement, we first recruited 33 retirees from different communities to be the first class of retirees that will be trained as rescuers. To reinforce credibility, Philips partnered with Singapore Heart Foundation's instructors to do so. The experience, the ease of learning, and the sense of achievement enjoyed by the pensioners as they become officially certified AED + CPR providers was captured on our launch film. Which was used between 20 April - 25th May across social media buys, display ads, outbrain articles, and YouTube discovery to introduce the movement to Singaporeans. In return, inspiring and enabling more retirees to step forth and join the retiree rescue movement. Which was a simple registration on Philips HeartStart registration site. Four hours worth of training which typically costs up to $109 with Singapore Heart Foundation would be fully sponsored by Philips.

The project drove a grand total of over 19 million impressions, 25k site visits and 515k video views. As this was largely an awareness-based campaign, we measured site visits and looked at the quality of them. Planned site visits KPI was met and proved to have delivered quality site visits. The campaign saw a low bounce rate of 46.03%, reinforcing the fact that site visits garnered were of quality visits and not accidental clicks. More importantly, since launch, over 300 members of the community have signed up and since then, been trained. Philips also plans to extend the movement and train more people across Asia.

Retiree Rescue has a direct impact on resolving a critical gap between the availability of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) and the availability of community members who are ready to respond when sudden cardiac arrests strike. Through the project, retired heartlanders who now spend more time up and about in their communities, are motivated to join the movement that turns retirees into trained rescuers.

If you asked Joe Bloggs on the street and asked him what products Philips make, he'd probably talk about light bulbs. Or household appliances. But probably not MRI Machines and other complex medical equipment. Having pivoted to sit at the intersection of humanity, design and healthcare, Philips needed a way to relay its new direction to the wider world. Therefore the Philips HeartStart AED was the closest piece of health tech to the community. Research shows that out of hospital cardiac arrest survival rate in Singapore is merely 11%. Having AEDs publicly located within aging communities are useless when there aren't bystanders equipped with the confidence to use them. This project is a movement that directly addresses the issue by rallying retirees to be trained by Philips and Singapore Heart Foundation. Every new retiree trained, is one step forward in increasing the likelihood of our AEDs being deployed during emergencies.