People with sight loss are experts at navigating a world not designed for them, shopping, socialising and exercising like everyone else. But in 2020, Covid-19 changed everything.

With the sudden introduction of social distancing rules and the transformation of shop layouts, the already complicated process of navigating public spaces became almost impossible for people with sight loss. With their independence taken away overnight and no guidance from the government, RNIB needed to raise awareness of this issue, inform the public on what they could do to help and force the government into taking notice.

To make matters worse donations had been hit hard. So when RNIB were given a free slot on London’s Piccadilly Lights billboard, they needed an idea that was going to get this important issue talked about up and down the country. No easy task when a nationwide lockdown meant footfall was at an all time low.

The #WorldUpsideDown campaign took the iconic Piccadilly Lights site, Europe’s largest digital billboard, and turned the ads upside down to raise awareness of the problem. Creating an arresting and PRable image that stopped passers-by in their tracks before landing our important message of: be aware, be kind, and offer help.

To create the illusion we partnered with 9 iconic brands who actually donated to the charity in order to land a place on the upside down billboard, teaming up with brands like Amazon, Lego, Kellogs and British Gas to name a few, raising 80k for the RNIB before the campaign had even started.

Due to lockdown we couldn't rely on footfall alone so we leveraged our brand partner’s social media presence and got them to share the campaign online and turn their social media profiles upside down to encourage the public to do the same and help spread the word.

Our approach was rooted in the insight; that while the pandemic had proved tough for everyone, for people with sight loss it had turned the world upside down.

We needed a campaign that could break the public and government out of their own lockdown experiences to see the pandemic from the perspective of someone with sight loss.

Given the lack of footfall, we needed an inherently PRable visual. The strength of Piccadilly Lights is its famous patchwork design, so we subverted expectations.

By partnering with big brands and flipping their adverts, we created a news-worthy visual that landed our important message to be aware, be kind, and offer help.

These partnerships also amplified PR interest in the campaign. We activated their followers by turning their social media profiles upside down. And by creating a live newsroom, we seeded the campaign with high profile figures, retweeting engagements to spread our message.

The first upside down billboard featuring Amazon, Kelloggs, Herbal Essences, Very and Kelloggs went live on 6th of July 2020. At the same time those brands shared the message on their social channels and turned their social media profiles upside down to amplify the message. At the end of the first day we’d already made the ITV evening news and trended on Twitter.

Half way through the week, to keep the conversation going, the second billboard launched to show another 4 brands: Lego, British Gas, Talk Talk and FT. Those brands then shared the message on social media, in the end encouraging a further 54 brands to proactively do the same.

#WorldUpsideDown trended on Twitter, had 6.4 Million searches and an overall reach of 77% of the UK population. It put sight loss on the national agenda bringing the discussion to prime-time news including the BBC, ITV and many others.

It was one of the most tweeted topics by MP’s in launch week, gathering public support from many MP’s including the Mayor of London; Sadiq Khan, as well as famous celebrities such as Sir Alan Sugar and Michael Owen.

Crucially, it put sight loss on the national agenda when it was needed most. Driving the government into changing its policy so people with sight loss were allowed to be guided by someone outside their household again.

Also in conjunction with the cabinet office, RNIB created a disability lanyard, encouraging the public to maintain a social distance, and making a real difference to people with sight loss during the pandemic.

Donations from the brands that appeared on the billboard reached over £80K from the likes of Amazon, Kelloggs, Lego, FT, British Gas, Talk Talk, Very, Barclays and Herbal Essences. As a result of the campaign, a further 54 brands shared the message on social media, including Specsavers, TFL and News UK. Driving brands like IKEA and P&G to commit to sight loss training for their entire workforce as well as getting major supermarkets to rethink their store layouts.