Cheil Worldwide’s Life Saving TV for KT Rolls Out Across South Korea

KT’s Life Saving TV, the life-saving service for the elderly is now being rolled out across South Korean homes. The KT Life Saving TV, created by Cheil Worldwide for South Korean telecoms operator KT and first piloted in South Korea in 2015, takes care of the elderly without causing any disruption to their everyday lives.

The idea
Cheil developed a unique piece of code which allows any TV to communicate, via a set top box, with designated mobile phones. When the elderly person turns on his/her TV set, the unique code automatically sends a text message to the mobile phone of a caregiver and/or loved ones. If there is no TV activity after 24 hours, another text message is automatically sent to the elderly person’s social worker alerting them, and the social worker can call or visit.

The context
Cheil Worldwide and KT created the innovative service to help solve issues around the care of the elderly in South Korea, where more than 1.38 million senior citizens live alone and few social workers are taking care of them (1 social worker to almost 27 seniors).

The project is based on the insight that over 98% of elderly living alone have a TV set and the first thing they do when they get up in the morning is turn on their TV.

Results and effectiveness
KT Life Saving TV has resulted in a 125% increase in visits by social workers to the elderly in their charge, a 300% increase in texts from social workers, and a 400% increase in calls to the elderly from social workers and caregivers.

The elderly people using the device reported anxiety levels decreased by 12%, and feelings of loneliness dropped by 30%.

Kate Hyewon Oh, Executive Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide said: "In the last 10 years, the number of seniors has doubled in South Korea. A lot of these men and women live on their own and fear dying alone. The idea behind the KT Life Saving TV was not only to create a technology that helps them in their daily lives, but also to raise public awareness of this social issue.”

Malcolm Poynton, Global Chief Creative Officer, Cheil Worldwide, said: “There’s nothing more rewarding than knowing you’ve helped a major brand like KT make a positive impact on society. The ability for our creative thinking to deliver innovative tech solutions that solve real societal issues is exactly what defines Cheil as the creative network built for now."