Listen Up - Pindrop

The brief

Hearing loss is a growing issue for New Zealand, with 1 in 6 people affected. To address this health issue, the Pindrop Foundation introduced a health program targeted at changing the behaviours of young adults and children as accumulated noise damage develops slowly and insidiously. 

The program was designed around a 45 min interactive presentation to be delivered into NZ schools. We had the opportunity to develop a campaign to create buzz and interest amongst teenagers, kids and schools to participate in the program.

The Solution

Targeting the message of hearing loss to teenagers was our first priority and we leveraged their love of music and the link between listening to loud music and hearing loss.

Partnering with the University of Auckland, we targeted senior school students to take up training to become, “Listen Up educators,” learning vital skills such as:

• Managing a classroom

• Presentation &Teachingskills

• Mentoring

• Leadership

In turn, the senior students visit their local primary schools and teach their younger peers to protect their hearing from noise damage.

The rationale was that if teenagers became the educators, they would be role models to their younger peers and internalize the key desired behavior changes, with younger kids looking up to their older peers. In addition, there would be an interactive website, printed educational collateral and a leading New Zealand musician supporting the campaign.

Pitching the program to schools the tag line of the “IPod generation risks hearing loss” was utilized and the message that listening to loud music for long periods of time was no joke. This resonated with schools and students alike.

The result was 450 senior school students became Listen Up educators who in turn taught 30,000 primary school kids the program. Stories about the program featured across broadcast, print, radio and online media.