How AlmapBBDO and LG Combined AI, Air Conditioning to Ease Menopausal Hot Flushes
Using air conditioning to combat the symptoms of hot flashes seems like a no-brainer, right? Well for LG and AlmapBBDO it was, only now they have integrated wearable AI technology to detect and respond to symptoms of hot flashes in a newly released initiative, 鈥楳enopause Mode鈥.
Technology aside, this project places human truth above all. Research estimates that around 29 million women in Brazil are currently menopausal, with a third of them experiencing moderate to severe hot flashes. The initiative, therefore, was born out of a desire to prioritise wellbeing, bring about meaningful change and deconstruct pre-existing taboos around the menopause, whilst making use of new technologies.
Explaining why they 鈥渂elieve it鈥檚 cool to look human鈥, AlmapBBDO鈥檚 creative directors Daniel Chagas and Daniell Rezende give 天美棋牌鈥檚 Abi Lightfoot the lowdown on how they helped women cool down.
天美棋牌> What was the brief from LG and what were your initial thoughts when you saw it? How did it begin the process to the final idea?
Daniel and Daniell> LG is all about technology making people鈥檚 lives better. So when they asked us to create an initiative for their Dual Inverter air conditioning with AI, we thought it would be a great opportunity to think of how this product could benefit people. Since women in menopause suffer from hot flashes and are often neglected by many brands and campaigns, we decided to take on the issue.
天美棋牌> The statement 鈥淎rtificial Intelligence is more intelligent when it鈥檚 more human.鈥 rings true throughout this campaign. How did you marry AI technology with lived human experiences?
Daniel and Daniell> It鈥檚 an interesting thing, because we鈥檙e not inventing the technology anymore: AI is there already. What we鈥檙e inventing are ways to use it. But mostly, it鈥檚 the same process as usual, whenever we have to come up with a campaign or idea, we look for a human truth 鈥 something that people can relate to 鈥 and take it from there. In this case, the output was more than a campaign.
天美棋牌> Technologically, how did you pull this off? Please talk us through the process of working with the AI.
Daniel and Daniell> It鈥檚 a smartwatch app that uses the device鈥檚 sensors to monitor a person鈥檚 oxygenation, body temperature, and heartbeat. When these three vital signs show some significant alteration, the app understands that the person in menopause is going through a hot flash. The app then communicates with ThinQ, LG鈥檚 connectivity app, which tells the air conditioner to lower the temperature. When the hot flash ends, the air conditioner鈥檚 temperature goes back to normal. Basically, it was a combination of technologies meant to teach AI how to identify a hot flash.
天美棋牌> The data speaks for itself, showing 1/3 of Brazilian women will experience severe hot flashes during menopause. Despite this, it鈥檚 still a widely underrepresented market, why did you decide that it was the right time to launch this campaign?
Daniel and Daniell> It was the right time to launch this campaign exactly because it鈥檚 still widely underrepresented. Most brands believe there are 鈥榶oung people issues鈥 and 鈥榦ld people issues鈥. And they鈥檙e constantly avoiding those 鈥榦ld people issues鈥, maybe because they think it鈥檚 cool to 鈥榣ook young鈥. We believe it鈥檚 cool to look human. And when we talk about human issues, we鈥檙e talking to everyone, young or old.
天美棋牌> The campaign spotlights a number of women of varying ages, tackling the perception that the menopause only affects women of a certain age demographic. What was the reasoning behind this?
Daniel and Daniell> Because it鈥檚 a fact. Women between the ages of 40 and 45 may experience early menopause. Even women under the age of 40 may go through premature menopause. We thought it would help to cast women of different ages because it would help break all the taboos around menopause. By the way, all the women in the campaign are actually going through menopause.
天美棋牌> How did you go about casting the women seen in the ad?
Daniel and Daniell> They had to know what it feels like. They had to be in menopause. They had to know what hot flashes were. It wouldn鈥檛 make sense for us otherwise.
天美棋牌> The spot makes use of colour in a way that makes even audiences feel hot and clammy, empathising with the women on screen, before brightening as Menopause Mode kicks in. What were the creative decisions behind this?
Daniel and Daniell> We wanted to show menopause as it is. And it can be challenging. It can be hard. It can ruin one鈥檚 sleep. Anyone going through it should watch the spot and think, 鈥測es, that鈥檚 it, that鈥檚 how I feel, I鈥檓 not alone鈥. When we avoid showing the harsh parts of life, people tend to think there鈥檚 something terribly wrong with them. We wouldn鈥檛 like to make them feel like that.
天美棋牌> What were the trickiest components and how did you overcome them?
Daniel and Daniell> The first and most important question was, 鈥渙k, now how do we identify a hot flash as it happens?鈥. We had long talks with gynaecologists who have specialised in menopause and its symptoms. It felt like attending a medical congress. And it was actually one of the best things about diving into this project: we have learned a lot.
天美棋牌> More generally, what are your predictions for the 'smart home' of the future?
Daniel and Daniell> Now that鈥檚 tricky: predicting. A new thing we can say this project brings to the subject is that the next smart home may react not only to voice commands but also to the body itself.
