#MarketingEventsAwards 2021 highlight: HP Indigo puts a smile on everyone’s face

When the pandemic hit in 2019, it brought about changes in everyone’s lifestyle. For instance, the wearing of masks became mandatory in most countries to prevent the spread of the virus.

While one may argue the use of the mask is effective in preventing the spread of the virus, you can also say that it has taken away the ability to see someone as a “normal human being”. Now, a person is only able to stand out in the crowd if he or she is not wearing a mask. 

Similarly, this has changed the mood when being served by someone in an industry which requires face to face contact. With this in mind, HP Indigo decided to launch “Project Smile” – an opportunity for individuals in the medical industry to show their “faces”, allowing patients to engage with more than a name.

With a strong desire to solve the identity challenge caused by wearing a mask, HP Indigo’s “Project Smile” impressed the judges and earned it the gold award for Best Community Event at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s Marketing Events Awards 2021.

Challenge

When the pandemic hit in 2019, the world saw individuals such as doctors, nurses, and other front line workers step up to heal the world selflessly and tirelessly. Consequently, everybody saw a shift in lifestyle when masks became mandatory.

While masks were considered essential to prevent the virus from spreading, this action caused most patients to recognise their individual doctors based only on a name. They were unable to put a face to the name, which in turn, led to a disheartened mood in an already dull environment.

According to HP Indigo, this was a major identity challenge not only between the patient and medical staff, but also within team members. With this campaign, HP Indigo intended to provide an opportunity for the medical staff to feel more human, thereby ensuring the face that placed a smile on the other party. As a result, “Project Smile” was born. 

Strategy 

In a discussion with medical staff from a leading hospital, it was revealed there was a need to capture the faces of the staff to make them feel human and keep their patients at ease. In fact, the discussion concluded that the staff were more than just a mask.

With this knowledge, Project Smile became an attempt to reveal the face behind the mask. This was accomplished by having the doctors and nurses paste photos of themselves on their gowns, celebrating them as heroes. 

HP Indigo initiated this project with a tie-up with medical institutions, airlines and NGOs, with the objective of supporting them with a process through the “print service providers”. 

Execution 

HP Indigo’s Project Smile was initially activated with a few of the employees within the team, but it turned out that Project Smile was a success, with more than 1,000 registrations on the temporary web form after the project had only been launched for three days.

Following its initial success, the campaign was rolled out immediately and a microsite was created where families, friends and close contacts could upload photos of the known warriors. 

In the following months, HP Indigo reached out to hospitals, hotel chains, airlines and NGOs to maximise the reach of the campaign. It was also organically amplified on social media by shareable messages, posts and videos, which pushed better results for the campaign.

Results

According to HP Indigo, Project Smile has connected with 20 hospitals and one airline. The project also delivered a solution to more than 2,000 health workers. Furthermore, the project has also printed more than a million impressions.