Utilising augmented reality filters this London- based charity used augmented reality filters raising campaign awareness to their audience. Creating filters for Instagram and Facebook Follicular Lymphoma Foundation helped people see and understand more about this little-known cancer.
Facing cancer
The Follicular Lymphoma Foundation raises funds to help people living with this incurable blood cancer. It was founded in 2019 by Facebook Vice President EMEA Nicola Mendelsohn, who had been diagnosed with cancer three years earlier. The charity hoped to raise awareness about its launch. This would help people to learn more about Follicular Lymphoma and encourage them to make donations to help fund their important work.
Raising campaign awareness
As the effects of Follicular Lymphoma are not visible, people can have a hard time connecting with it emotionally. The Foundation, therefore, sought to make the disease personal, while at the same time educating people about this hidden cancer.A series of portraits shot by the photographer Rankin mirrored the dye used to diagnose the illness, showing the lymphatic system on the faces of celebrities like comic Tracey Ullman and the singer Katherine Jenkins. These images were promoted in Facebook News Feed and Instagram feed as well as in Stories, showing people where cancer lives and grows.Then, working with augmented reality (AR) company myReality.design, the Foundation developed a sharable AR filter that depicted the lymphatic system on photos of people’s own faces. Celebrities and influencers—including CEO Investor Gary Vee and fashion designer Victoria Beckham—helped raise awareness by using the filter with the hashtag #CureFL.Two days before the launch of this campaign, the Foundation had renowned portrait artist Aske create an Instagrammable mural of Nicola’s portrait in her home city of Manchester. This teaser prompted media to speculate about who was depicted. Two days later, the artist added the lymphatic system in purple, along with the #CureFL hashtag, to reveal the campaign.Facebook fundraising tools, including a special sticker that people could add to their Stories, encouraged donations. Most importantly, patients from a Follicular Lymphoma Facebook group were able to share their experience and stories of cancer.
Reaching millions
The campaign was a huge success, generating significant media coverage about a frequently ignored condition. In its first two weeks, the campaign achieved:
- 8-point lift in campaign awareness in the first 24 hours
- 19% of adults interviewed the morning after the launch said they had seen the press
- £200,000 received in donations
- 200 million people reached
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