Every year, more than 10 million people are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. While the general public is aware of Alzheimer’s, there is little awareness of the debilitating effects of one of its most pronounced symptoms: name confusion. The objective was to raise awareness about this symptom – one of the first the disease produces— to be vigilant and not dismiss it as if it were a simple confusion. Knowing how to identify this symptom is an incredibly important step toward yielding an early diagnosis, which gives people the tools to manage the disease better and provide optimal care for their loved ones much sooner.

The idea is that both those attending the match and those following the game on TV or social, during one of the most important matches of the Argentine Professional League, could experience first-hand one of the first symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, which is the confusion of names. We did this by switching the players' last names on the backs of their jerseys in real time, at the match and shared the activation across multiple channels.

Our strategy was to create an immediate and far-reaching impact on millions of people by sharing a clear message about Alzheimer’s and one of its first symptoms -name confusion. And we had to do it where no one would see it coming to give people an authentic, first-hand experience of the symptom. We chose a time and a place where intense attention was already captured – a high-profile soccer match with more than 40,000 fans in the stadium and millions watching at home or on their devices. Because A.L.M.A. is a non-profit, the strategy also needed to have organic reach and amplification built in. With hundreds of media outlets covering the match and high interaction on socials providing maximum amplification in real time, the goal of the live experience was to generate tons of earned media and conversation organically.

Before the match on Racing Club's social accounts we published a photo where we see the Jerseys but the numbers of those playing that day were correct, but the last names were switched.

After we posted another photo with the formation of the 11 starters that were playing that day but with the last names switched.

The stadium screens showed players’ faces, but the last names were wrong. The announcer through the speakers also said the correct numbers but with names that were switched.

All was resolved when the players took a photo while holding a banner with this message:

“Name confusion is one of the main symptoms of Alzheimer's and if you feel this you should contact ALMA.”

It all happened in the live official broadcast of ESPN. On social we also posted a video of the two most important players of the squad explaining what had happened.

In less than a week, this live activation campaign generated:

• More than 179MM earned media impressions

• 98% positive sentiment (2% neutral)

• 400% increase in A.L.M.A.’s social media impressions

Never in history has A.L.M.A. had so many inquiries or so many interactions on its humble social networks.