Zeitgeist 2014

Despite having no media budget, we managed to confuse tens of millions of people across the world. Massive national and international online media coverage made our video the number one result for #YearInSearch on the day Google launched theirs. In addition, our video was shared directly via personal social media channels a tremendous number of times. This introduced the discussion around this topic to online communities and social media. All the media attention was equivalent to an estimated media value of €500,000. This is how we managed to turn an eagerly anticipated moment of reflection at the end of 2014 into a moment of attention for Alzheimer’s disease.

Every year we look forward to Google’s Zeitgeist: Year In Review. A video report which takes us on a trip down the entire year’s memory lane. This and the fact that people search specifically for this content created an opportunity to grab the attention of millions of people worldwide. Hijacking this moment made them receptive to a message they wouldn’t otherwise be open to.

To hijack Google’s Zeitgeist, we had to launch our video in as credible a way as possible, before Google launched theirs. Viewers thought they were watching Google’s Zeitgeist but it wasn’t what they were expecting. The images became increasingly disconnected from the viewers’ memories and expectations. This created the sort of confusion experienced by people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

We created a Zeitgeist 2014 YouTube channel to upload our video. This increased our video’s credibility and was of huge help in spreading our message despite our having no media budget. By adding the official 2014 Google Zeitgeist hashtag after it was launched, we were also able to reach people specifically searching for Google’s Zeitgeist.

Awareness and knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease is crucial to finding a cure. Especially among young adults knowledge is low, since they only associate the disease with senility and forgetfulness.

We want to increase awareness by letting people experience some of the confusion people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease are confronted with every day.
Confusion can only be caused by surprise. With lack of any media budget and the desire to reach a lot of people we need to own a striking media moment that grabs lots of attention and maximise the willingness of individuals to share our message.