The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2024
Dentsu turned Alzheimer's patients' clock drawings into real watches and raised 106% more.
Alzheimer's patients' distorted clock drawings became designer watches and a metro exhibition that built empathy and funding.
Jian Ai Elderly Charity Center · Dentsu Creative China
the move
Alzheimer's affects more than ten million people in China, yet many cases go unnoticed because awareness is low and stigma in Chinese culture keeps families from acting early.
The Clock Drawing Test is a fast, well-established screen, but it stays locked inside hospitals. Dentsu wanted to make the public feel what patients experience.
It took hundreds of clock drawings from Alzheimer's patients, turned them into designer timepieces through 3D modelling, and displayed them at Shanghai's Xujiahui Metro Station and as limited watches auctioned for charity.
The exhibition let strangers literally try on how a patient sees time, generating empathy, conversation and funding for the cause.
why it works
- The Clock Drawing Test was already a proven tool; the campaign just carried it out of the clinic.
- Patient artwork made the condition tangible and dignified, rather than clinical or frightening.
- Putting the work in a busy metro station made the invisible condition visible to millions.
- Auctioning real products turned a bystander into a supporter, and drove measurable funding.
what transfers
To explain a hard, invisible condition, don't lecture. Turn a clinical test into an object people want to touch and buy, so empathy and funding both rise because the evidence is the artwork.
what came after
The exhibition engaged 2.75 million people and generated 129 million impressions, while donations rose 106% year over year and over 120,000 people took part in the watch auction. It won gold, silver and bronze at Spikes Asia 2025 and multiple Clio awards, becoming a template for health communication.
references
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