Work 08 – Social Impact
Making Sound
Be Seen
Listening Angels Awareness and Fundraising Campaign
Through a strategy of "reverse empathy" and bold visual design, we transformed the isolation of silence into a visual cry for attention. The campaign increased funds raised during 9.9 Giving Day by 250% year on year and brought public attention to rehabilitation for children with hearing loss.
Project overview
Project overview
Client
Listening Angels
Supporting Children with Hearing Loss
A Charitable Foundation for Speech and Language Rehabilitation
Focused on
Ages 0–6
Speech and Language Rehabilitation
The Critical Window
Campaign
99 Giving Day
Public Awareness &
Fundraising Communications
Core PR Objectives
Raise Awareness
Draw public attention to the critical window for language rehabilitation in children with hearing loss—and the difference timely intervention can make
Challenge Stereotypes
Show people with hearing loss as eager to connect, with aspirations that extend beyond their challenges
Inspire Donations
Mobilize as many people as possible to donate during 99 Giving Day
Challenge
Challenges & Insights
The Challenge of Cause Communications
Charity campaigns often fall into the same pattern: stories of suffering designed to draw tears. The result is audience fatigue and a declining willingness to give.
For children with hearing loss, the challenge is"silent", making it harder to capture attention than causes with an immediate visual impact.
The Insight Behind Action
The Qingmei Future team found that people did not lack compassion. They lacked"a reason to act"。
Pity alone cannot inspire action. What can is"hope and a sense of participation".
The Strategic Breakthrough
The breakthrough was to translatea "silent" struggle, through design, into a powerful"visual cry", creating a visual impact that inspires empathy.
Communications strategy
Communications strategy
Designing for Emotion and Action
We developed a strategy of"empathy through shared experience". The central message was not "Look how much we suffer," but "We want to connect, just like you."
Qingmei Future created a series of visually arresting campaign assets that made the abstract concept of sound visible.
A simulated experience of losing sound helped people empathize. An immediate, one-tap donation option then turned that emotional response into action.
The Qingmei Future Advantage: Visual Translation
Visual Translation
Translating Cause Narratives into Visuals
We can translate the pain of being unable to hear into striking campaign posters, making an abstract challenge tangible and emotionally immediate.
Emotional Design
Designing for Emotional Connection
We can create immersive mobile web experiences that help people understand the urgency of language rehabilitation, turning passive viewing into active participation.
design concept
We believe good design for a cause moves people to act. Visual impact builds empathy; thoughtful action design turns goodwill into support.
EXECUTION
Execution highlights
Core Campaign Assets
Poster 01
Mom
A mother's call is visualized as shards of glass breaking apart and fading away
Poster 02
Alarm Clock
An alarm's ring becomes fractured light and shadow, symbolizing sound lost
Poster 03
Bird
Birdsong dissolves into scattered fragments, conveying the poignancy of a sound unheard
"A Silent Cry" Poster Series
Minimal compositions create a powerful visual impact. Each poster carries the same message: "For them, a mother's call is silent. Together, we can change that." The series ran on social media and in subway advertising.
Interactive Mobile Experience
The Silence Challenge
"One Minute of Silence": An Immersive Mobile Challenge
Experience Design:
Opening the experience automatically silences the phone to simulate hearing loss
A silent video shows a child working hard to learn speech at a rehabilitation center
Users must wait 60 seconds—a reflection of the patience rehabilitation demands—before they can "unlock sound" and reach the donation page. This temporary loss of sound creates a powerful emotional impact.
Celebrity Voices
The Power of Voice
Invite influencers with distinctive voices to take the challenge
Voice actors, singers, and other creators whose work depends on sound were invited to take the challenge and share what sound means to them.
Their participation amplified the value of sound and encouraged fans to donate toward rehabilitation for children with hearing loss.
Media Relations
Stories of Hope
In-Depth Stories of Successful Rehabilitation
We partnered with social affairs and education media to tell in-depth stories of children who had made progress through language rehabilitation.
Delivering"Donations make a difference"—a positive message that gave people hope and a reason to act.
Results
Measurable outcomes
300 Million
Hashtag Views
Views of the #MakeSoundVisible# hashtag on Weibo
250%
Fundraising Growth
Year-on-year growth in funds raised during 99 Giving Day
Public Attention
State Media Shares
People's Daily and other state media shared the poster series organically, bringing the cause widespread public attention
H5 ENGAGEMENT
10 Million+
Visits to the "One Minute of Silence" mobile experience, turning meaningful engagement into donations
Greater Awareness
5× Increase
Public awareness of the critical window for language rehabilitation rose significantly, with a fivefold increase in calls to the foundation
Key achievement
From Sorrow to Hope
Through empathy built on shared experience and striking visual design, we shifted the campaign from appeals rooted in suffering to a message driven by hope. By showing that sound could be made visible and rehabilitation could change lives, we inspired people to act and met the annual fundraising target.
Methodology
Our Approach
Principles for Cause Communications
1. Lead with Hope:Show what can change to inspire action
2. Make It Experiential:Help people understand the challenge through experience and participation
3. Create Visual Impact:Translate abstract challenges into powerful visual language
4. Make Action Immediate:Offer a simple, one-tap donation option at the moment of greatest emotional engagement
Visual Design Strategy
Visualizing the Abstract:Make the absence of sound visible through fragments that break apart and fade away
Enforced Immersion:Automatically mute the mobile web experience, immersing users in a sudden loss of sound
Emotional Design:Build understanding and empathy for the challenges of rehabilitation through a 60-second wait
Inspiring Action:Present a donation prompt at the moment of strongest emotional connection
