2020 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Because people with Down syndrome have atypical speech, Google’s voice assistant only understands about one in every three words they say. The Canadian Down Syndrome Society (CDSS) needed to fix this tech failure and make voice assistants more accessible to people living with Down Syndrome, giving them more independence. So FCB launched a social and email recruitment campaign targeting people in the Down Syndrome community and asking them to donate their voice data to Google so that it could better train itself to recognize their voice patterns. The campaign drove to a microsite featuring a voice collection tool. The agency then amplified the message through earned media with the goal of fighting the stigma associated with atypical speech. “Project Understood” organically reached more than 826,000 people on Facebook and engaged 734 Down Syndrome affiliate groups globally, enabling CDSS to surpass its goal of obtaining 500 sign-ups within a month-and-a-half.

Credits

Creative Agency: FCB Canada
Chief Creative Officer: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna & Jeff Hilts
President: Bryan Kane
Associate Creative Director: Elma Karabegovic
Associate Creative Director: Michael Morelli
Associate Creative Director: Marty Hoefkes
Copywriter: Shannon McCarroll
Senior Copywriter: Jason Soy
VP, Managing Director: Tracy Little
Group Account Director: Blake Connolly
Account Supervisor: Olivia Selbie
Agency Producer/s: Sarah Michener/Kristine Lippett
VP of Operations: Shandi Horovitch
Project Manager: Cori Pettit
Chief Strategy Officer: Shelley Brown
Director of Strategy: Eryn LeMesurier
Director of Strategy: Shelagh Hartford
Strategy Coordinator: Audrey Zink
Director, Product and Technology Solutions: John Sime
EVP, Head of Global Innovation: Kris Hoet
PR: Shannon Stephaniuk, Glossy
Production Company: Radar
Director: Scott Drucker
Line Producer: Sarah Michener
Director of Photography: Scott Drucker & Chet Tilokani
Camera Operator: Scott Drucker & Chet Tilokani
Audio: Nicolas Field
Hair & Make-Up: Neil Silverman
Photographer: Cassidy Clemmer
Editing House: Outsider Editorial
Editor: John Gallagher/Michael Barker
Editorial Assistant: Scott Edwards
Executive Producer: Kristina Anzlinger
Transfer Facility: Alter Ego
Colourist: Eric Whipp
Online Facility: Alter Ego
VFX Artist: Eric Perrella
Alter Ego Producer: Caitlin Schooley-Groneveldt
Music House: Grayson Matthews
Music Track Director: Mark Dominic
Engineer: Vlad Nikolic
Audio Producer: Kelly McCluskey
Speech Pathologist: Amanda Cotton
Website design: Bliss Interactive
Kris Van Wallendael
Julie Post
Dao Tran
Client: Canadian Down Syndrome Society
Chair: Ed Casagrande
Interim Executive Director: Laura LaChance
Marketing & Communications Manager: Kristen Halpen
Board Member: Ben Tarr
Partner : Google