A social campaign run by Whiddon, aimed at raising awareness of the impact of cognitive decline as a consequence of dementia, stroke, brain cancer, acquired brain injury, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s, has proved to be a huge success.

In total, ‘Sign My Name’ reached more than 10 million people via social and traditional media, with a number of high profile celebrities getting on board to offer their support.

Run in conjunction with Brain Awareness Week (16-22 March), the cause was embraced by the likes of The Block’s Scotty Cam, The Morning Show’s Larry Emdur, Weekend Sunrise’s Monique Wright, KIIS’ Jackie O, comedian and presenter Rove McManus and Home & Away duo Lynne McGranger and Ada Nicodemou, in addition to countless others who shared their ‘Sign My Name’ efforts via social media channels.

Supported by the Brain Foundation and Brain Injury Australia, the campaign encouraged the public to put their signature on a piece of paper using their non-dominant writing hand and post a selfie of the attempt on their various social accounts, along with the hashtag #BrainAwarenessWeek. The idea behind the use of the non-dominant hand was to offer participants a glimpse into the challenges related to losing the ability to perform day-to-day tasks we often take for granted.

Karn Nelson, executive general manager, strategic policy and research, Whiddon, is thrilled by the results, saying, “the support we have received for ‘Sign My Name’ has been overwhelming. We launched the campaign with the intention of bringing the issues associated with cognitive decline into the spotlight during Brain Awareness Week, and the response has exceeded our expectations! The fact that so many people engaged and are talking about the campaign, as well as the issues it highlighted, makes it a massive success for us”.

Agency Credits

Client: The Whiddon Group
Agency: Red Agency
Account team:
o    Elizabeth McKenzie
o    Martin Harkin
o    Nick Day
o    Holly Frendo