McCann Health India Raises Dementia Awareness with New Forgetful Train Campaign

Mental health conditions like depression, dementia or Alzheimer’s are becoming a big concern in a rapidly urbanizing India. Ironically, these conditions are often ignored due to social stigma or a lack of awareness about their management. Making people aware about the symptoms of such health conditions is the first step towards effectively managing them- something that would benefit millions in India. 

Inspired by this thought, McCann Health India came up with an innovative campaign for the Mumbai launch of HealthCare atHome (HCAH) – India’s leading home healthcare services provider. HCAH was looking for a disruptive, cost-effective idea to enter the highly competitive and expensive Mumbai market. So instead of the usual print or electronic mediums, the McCann Health team decided to reach out to people through ‘Mumbai Locals’ – suburban trains that an estimated 8 million people take daily.

The resulting campaign- ‘The Alzheimer’s Local’ was recently rolled out in the Mumbai trains. During the morning and evening rush hours, commuters were surprised by announcements that sounded as if the operators have forgotten which next station their trains will be arriving at. These then turned out to be social awareness messages about not taking regular forgetfulness lightly, as it can be a symptom of diseases like Alzheimer’s. 

Speaking about the new campaign and its entry into Mumbai, Dr. Harshit Jain, SVP and Country Manager, McCann Health India said, “The Alzheimer’s Local is yet another example of the Idea that McCann Health wants to showcase in Healthcare communications. We took a real client problem and instead of a run-of-the-mill campaign, came up with an idea that’s innovative and resonates with both the client and the audience.”

Mr. Vivek Srivastava, Co- Founder and CEO, HealthCare atHOME said, “We are extremely happy about our entry into Mumbai. The Alzheimer’s Local is a disruptive campaign that is memorable, and consequential at the same time. With 8 million people taking the Mumbai local every single day, it will provide the optimum channel for our brand to make that all-important initial impact.” 

Following the success of the highly acclaimed ‘Immunity Charm’ campaign, ‘The Alzheimer’s Local’ is another effort by McCann Health India to come up with industry leading ideas and pave the way for more innovative communication in the healthcare industry.