Every year, 15,000 orphans are adopted in Russia. But around 30% of them are returned back to orphanages because they can’t integrate into a family. Often this happens, as orphans don’t look like their parents, which makes them feel lonely and excluded. So, to look more like their parents is not just an orphan’s wish, but also a better chance to be happy in a new family. At the same time, 9 out of 10 potential adoptive parents would be happy to adopt a child who looks like them. Together with “Change One Life”, a charitable foundation, we launched a project which helps both sides.

For the first time, the national database of orphans, with more than 18,000 children, was integrated with face recognition technology. The technology compares the picture of an adopter with photos of orphans in the archive and shows the profiles of kids who look like the adopter. The project was supported by an intense PR campaign. We shot an interview with the foundation’s co-founder and prepared the press release. These materials were sent to the biggest Russian media. As a result, TV channels, newspapers and magazines gave us publicity in dozens of free publications. Celebrities became our project’s ambassadors. The whole country talked about the project. The foundation website had more than 500,000 unique visitors. As a result, more than 80,000 searches for orphans were made via face recognition service, the number of inquiries for adoption from potential parents increased by 500%.

Thanks to the data enhancement, we provided tens of thousands of potential parents with an opportunity to make a personalized search, since they could find children with close resemblance. As a result, more than 100.000 searches for kids were made via the Twin Souls project. And what’s very important, according to “Change One Life” metrics, the number of enquiries for adoption from potential parents increased by 500%.

Overall, the project generated a huge buzz all over Russia and was covered by print, online media and TV. Celebrities spontaneously became our project’s ambassadors. The online video about the project was viewed more than 380.000 times in only 3 days and had more than 40.000 likes and 1.200 shares. In the first 2 weeks, the foundation website had more than 680.000 unique visitors. The number of participants in foundation group in Odnoklassniki social network increased by 50% - up to 101.000 people.

TV channels, newspapers and magazines gave us dozens of free publications. Celebrities became our project’s ambassadors. During the first 2 weeks of campaign, the online video about the project was viewed more than 350.000 times and had more than 40.000 likes and 1.200 shares. The number of participants in foundation group in Odnoklassniki social network increased by 20% - up to 93.000 people. The foundation website had more than 500.000 unique visitors. As a result, more than 80.000 searches for orphans were made via face recognition service, the number of enquiries for adoption from potential parents increased by 500%.