The North Pole. A town with four months of complete darkness. The hardest place in the world to wake up in. That was the setting for an experiment to test how Philips Wake-up Light makes it easier to wake up. If it works here, it can work anywhere.PR created interest and fuelled the conversation around the experiment – the largest light therapy field study of its kind. The 200 townsfolk taking part in the experiment shared their experiences directly on Facebook and through a series of mini documentaries. Their progress was also charted through research undertaken before, during and after the 2 month-long experiment, generating worldwide coverage of the story.

And did Philips wake up the town? Yes, we did. 86% of the townsfolk agree that the Philips Wake-up Light makes it easier for them to get out of bed and 98% continue to use their Philips Wake-up Light.

The 'Wake up the Town' campaign took people on a journey over the dark winter months (October to December), giving consumers a view into the lives of residents of a small Arctic town, and how a simple product – Philips Wake-up Light – could have a positive impact on their morning routine.

• By creating a range of compelling content from residents, such as mini-documentaries, blog posts, media interviews and Facebook posts, the real-life story was told via a variety of media. • Media were continuously engaged by creating 'moments in time' such as a trip to Longyearbyen to meet the town when they were given their Philips Wake-up Lights at the standing-room-only town hall event. The event took place as the sun was setting on the town for the last time until spring but also coincided with Day Light Savings in key markets for extra newsworthiness.

• Results of residents’ experiences with the campaign – gleaned from phased research – were shared with media and consumers on an ongoing basis through the dedicated Facebook page, and at the conclusion of the campaign with a wrap-up report that brought together insights and research results.

• Phased research and leveraging Philips’ light therapy expert, Dan Adams, provided sound and credible insight into the town’s experiences over time and gave media and consumers a consistent flow of relevant information that helped to engage and overcome the primary barrier to trial.

We wanted to drive consideration:• Purchase consideration in Sweden grew by 17%• Purchase consideration in the Netherlands grew to 45%We wanted to grow the market• During the campaign period, the market grew by 22% in value and 29% in volume• The campaign had a lasting impact, as the market continued to grow by another 17% in January.PR results: • Top-tier media coverage in markets where campaign was activated (Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, UK, France) with total impressions exceeding 340million. The news spread and was also picked up by key titles in the US and Italy.

• Overall campaign cost per thousand of €0.42 • Variety of content provided consumers with opportunity to interact more emotionally with the campaign. Highly engaged Facebook community of over 10,000; above average Facebook IPM of 4.5 – 6.5, with more than 90% positive/neutral comments; over 800k video views on YouTube driven by PR • 21% word of mouth penetration in lead market (the Netherlands) of which 68% was positive.