In Belgium, Child Focus - the Belgian Center for Missing Children - handles 2.000 child disappearances every year. In 95% of cases the child is found quickly, but unfortunately a number of disappearances still remain unsolved. As months or even years pass by, the general public writes off these cases as hopeless, causing the attention to disappear. However, Child Focus and the children’s loved ones never abandon the hope of a breakthrough testimony. They will always keep hoping for answers. That’s why, as long as a case remains open, we must continue to share the pictures and stories of these children. But how can we once again draw attention to these long-term missing children and bring their cases back to the forefront? And how can we keep motivating people to keep sharing their missing persons notices?

Child Focus, the Belgian Center for Missing Children, wanted to recapture the attention for long-term missing children. Because as years pass by, people easily write off these cases as hopeless, causing the attention to disappear. But it’s only when we stop paying attention and allow them to be forgotten, that they truly disappear.

That’s why, on International Missing Children's Day, we brought this emotional insight alive and launched keephopealive.be. An innovative website with the portraits of ten long-term missing children that does exactly what happens to them when we allow them to be forgotten: gradually fading away. Based on the live data we collected about the number of visitors and shared missing persons notices, the portraits either became more visible or faded in real time. Thanks to this gripping approach we inspired immediate action, motivating people to keep the website alive and with it the hope of a breakthrough testimony.

The campaign had to touch all Belgians and ensure that as many people as possible would share the missing persons notices again.

That’s why when launching the website, the portraits were completely faded. For every 100 visitors, they became 1% more visible. When no visitor came by for 5 minutes, the portraits started to fade again (1% less visible). The activating message evolved accordingly in real time based on the collected data. That way inspiring immediate action, really motivating every visitor to share and to keep the website alive.

Keephopealive.be is not a one-off campaign. The website will act as an ongoing motivator that can be used to renew attention for these children, at any moment in the future. If one day the children fade entirely, visitors will see a message that will motivate them to rekindle hope. Because however small hope may seem; each visit and shared post helps.

At the launch of the website, the portraits of the children were completely faded. For every 100 visitors, they became 1% more visible. Didn't a single visitor come by for 5 minutes? Then the portraits started fading again, making them 1% less visible. The activating message evolved accordingly in real time. That way inspiring immediate action, inviting every visitor to share and motivating even more people to keep the website alive.

The life-like, hand-drawn portraits made by Illustrator Nabil Nezzar, were based on the pictures of the original missing persons notices. With the utmost respect for each child and their families, they are constructed very truthfully and accurately. Each portrait starts from a soft line drawing - the contours of the eyes, mouth and nose - and gently builds up to the full portrait in color. The subtle fading animation, the colors and all design elements have been specially chosen to give the website a serene, hopeful atmosphere and to emphasize the emotional creative idea.

Thanks to this grippingly crafted approach the portraits and associated information about each missing child were widely shared via the website on social media by the general public and by numerous supporting influencers. Next to that these portraits were also spread by volunteers in supermarkets and local stores and through a nation-wide outdoor campaign featuring a large network of digital billboards on prominent locations.

Keephopealive.be is not a one-off campaign. The website will act as an ongoing motivator that can be used to renew attention for these children, at any moment in the future. If one day the children fade entirely, website visitors will see a relevant message that will motivate them to rekindle hope. Because however small hope may seem; each visit and every shared post helps.

+ 25k visits and shares in only 1 day

+ 66 million impressions

+ €184.000 in earned media

Regardless of these results, keephopealive.be will be an everlasting tool, motivating people to renew attention for long-missing children at any moment in the future. No matter how little hope there seems to be at times; each visit and every shared post helps.