Remission Bell
St Louis Children’s Hospital
Issue 45 | December 2017
Agency
J. Walter Thompson Canada
Creative Team
JWT Toronto: Ari Elkouby JWT Toronto: Matt Syberg-Olsen JWT Chicago: Mike Beamer
Production Team
JWT Chicago: Noel Margonza Imagine It 3D: Bruce Playfoot, Jeremy Ramoudit Pirate Audio JWT Toronto: Jennifer Cotton
Other Credits
JWT Toronto: Dean Foerter JWT Chicago: Erin Clark JWT Chicago: Laura Doede SLCH: Jacqueline Ferman-Grothe SLCH: Suzanne Fontaine SLCH: Amy Connelly SLCH: Stephanie Perry
Date
October 2017
Background
The task was to raise awareness of St. Louis Children's Hospital's new oncology wing known as Siteman Kids. When child cancer patients complete their chemotherapy treatments the hospital celebrates by having the patient ring a golden bell in the hospital. This ritual is something the kids and families look forward to as it means the child's cancer is in remission and on the road to beating cancer.
Idea
To promote the fact another child has beaten cancer, a 12-foot replica was created of the bell cancer survivors ring in the hospital and it was placed on a prominent billboard in downtown St. Louis. When a child rings the bell in the hospital, nurses simultaneously ring the billboard bell through an app on their phone. Speakers on the billboard amplify the sound of the ringing of the bell so passers-by can hear it far and wide. Approximately 5-10 kids ring the bell every month.
Results
The installation of the bell generated international news coverage culminating in a total of 390 million earned impressions worth an estimated $3 million in free media from broadcast coverage including NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News, as well as press from publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, New York Post, National Post, Miami Herald, The Houston Chronicle and The Star Tribune.