Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) charity, Save Our Sons, wanted to approach the Australian government to match monies raised ($1.75million) to fund urgent clinical trials. To do so they needed the support of the Australian public, a significant challenge given low national awareness of the disease.

To help Save Our Sons ‘The Most Powerful Arm Ever Invented’ was created – a world first robot arm that via its online hub, TheMostPowerfulArm.com, physically signs a petition for anyone wanting to help kids with DMD. The robot arm signs in real time your support on behalf of the children that can’t because the terminal disease erodes the capabilities of limbs. To strengthen the message, we created the robot’s font in the same handwriting as a DMD sufferer, who lost the ability to write in his early teens.

All campaign touchpoints directed people to TheMostPowerfulArm.com where one click saw the robot sign their name then post a photo of it to your Facebook wall.

With zero budget, PR and social media were the sole promotional drivers for the campaign which aimed to achieve 20,000 signatures - the minimum required for government petitions

To ensure wide reach and high influence, the communication strategy focused heavily on national television and online influencers for a one-click access to the campaign. The charity’s celebrity ambassadors drove support via their social media channels.

Results: 160+ pieces of coverage including four pieces of national TV; 512 mentions across blogs; and a social media reach of 20+ million. Within 4 weeks 23,000+ signatures have been collected.

The Most Powerful Arm Ever Invented was installed on 25 March in Sydney, Australia. The website, TheMostPowerfulArm.com was live from 27 March, with the PR launch coinciding with this date.

To drive traffic to the site from the beginning, media pitching commenced two weeks prior to launch. Media were also invited to attend the unveiling of the arm, with one-to-one interviews and photo opportunities organised for a number of national print titles.

Celebrity ambassadors and charity partners were engaged from launch with prepared content for each point of the campaign which they could easily distribute to their communities.

Top-rating TV programs were targeted to bring the story to life in front of a national audience, with opportunities staggered by two weeks apart to create and keep momentum. Online outlets were targeted for the duration of the campaign as a ‘one-click away’ approach to encourage immediate action and sharing.

The campaign has generated over 170 articles including four national tv spots. Across social media, there have been over 1,120 posts across blogs, Twitter and Facebook. Total reach was 20+ million with an estimated advertising value of over $8 million.

As the only promotion tool engaged for The Most Powerful Arm, PR was the main driver to the website, which resulted in over 58,000 page views, and over 25,000 signatures. The key objective of this campaign was to gain enough signatures (at least 20,000) to raise a case with the Australian government to match funds already raised by DMD charity, Save Our Sons. 96% of coverage contained the call to action to the petition at TheMostPowerfulArm.com. While generating signatures was the core focus, the campaign also generated over $15,000 in donations for the charity, Save Our Sons.