Humans love dogs. Dogs love humans - It's a universal truth.
Our content lab
Researchers have shown that ‘man’s best friend’ can detect low blood sugar in people with diabetes and their superior sense of smell has inspired ‘e-nose’ technology to search for cancer. When our canine companions’ amazing snouts started to hit the medical news headlines, the PR team at Havas Life Medicom immediately realised this was a story worthy of more attention.
Our CONTENT LAB specializes in combining persuasive storytelling with well-crafted creative to offer new ways to deliver standout content across today’s multi-channels. So we set out to shamelessly exploit human’s love of their furry friends by creating a shareable short film, turning our workplace into a dog-centric film set.
The result?
Wuff Day at the Office’, an Award-winning 1-minute film (plus behind the scenes video) to tell the story of new innovations in healthcare. Produced in association with Slick Films, who previously won an Oscar for their short film ‘The Silent Child’, Wuff Day stars Baxter, Rosie, Bailey, Penny, Rocky and Kukla who take centre stage alongside their human co-workers.
It turns out that dogs may be able to sniff out cancer, but they’re rubbish at healthcare communications.
Why did our team embark on this storytelling project - and why was it so successful?
For eons, humans have used stories to make sense of the unknown. This is because our brains are hard-wired to process, store and recall information received in the form of stories. From “a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away)” to the next step in their Odyssey, cultural experiences have influenced how people think and act.
There are many reasons – to do with the mechanisms of the brain such as dopamine release, neural coupling and mirroring – that explain why storytelling is an effective way to get health messages across. For example, when we are exposed to vivid language it illuminates parts of our brain that are only active when we experience something.
The bottom line is that stories capture all types of learners. They can grab attention, cut through the noise and activate an innate mechanism to help people retain information that they might usually forget.
