Sonicbrand Wins Clio for Moving NHS Campaign ‘Waiting to Live’

Sonicbrand has collaborated on a Clio Health Silver Award, Health Equity for NHS Blood and Transplant ‘Waiting to Live’.

The pro-bono campaign from VML raises awareness of the more than 230 children in the UK waiting for an organ transplant. With 233 dolls hand-made to signify each child, a 45” film shows them sitting patiently in hospital while we learn about their stories - and the length of time they’ve been waiting for the donation they desperately need.

VML initially served Sonicbrand the brief to licence an existing piece of music for a 30" ad playing out across a TV, online, and cinema. After reaching out to various rights holders, the sonic branding agency had secured a number of strong heritage tracks gratis - but the perfect choice was not jumping out.

Faced with such sensitive subject matter, it was vital for the song choice to evoke strong emotions without feeling overly hopeful or hopeless, ultimately to encourage parents to sign their children up as organ donors.

The team eventually opted to compose a bespoke piece of music tailored to their needs, knowing that the lyrics and tone of the final track would be integral to the campaign.

Moved by the stories spotlighted in the campaign, music supervisor Chloe Bruce-Gardyne wrote the heartfelt song which was unanimously voted for by both agency and brand, also performing it in the final film. The mother of Ralph, The mother of Ralph, the child whose story first inspired the campaign, shared her thoughts on the track, “It truly reflects our children's situations. When I first heard it, I couldn't stop crying.” 

The results of the campaign speak for themselves, reaching 1.5 billion people and resulting in a 101% uplift in under-18 registrations.

Chloe Bruce-Gardyne, head of music supervision and composer at Sonicbrand, comments, “As music supervisor on this campaign, I really didn't think the track I wrote about Ralph’s story would end up on the film. Writing music has always been my way of processing things, and, working on this campaign, it was impossible not to become invested in the stories of these children.”

“After an evening spent listening to voice notes of their stories, I felt so moved by what I heard that I went to the piano and this track is what came from that. We realised after the launch that the final song ended up being 233 seconds long without us realising, which was the exact number of children that were waiting on the transplant list - it felt like it was meant to be.”