Who: Fédération Québécoise des Sociétés d’Alzheimer, with Cossette for strategy and creative, SOMA for production (directed by Christian Tremblay), post-production by Attraction Post.

What: “Loved ones forget themselves too,” a new awareness campaign that reminds those providing care for people with Alzheimer’s disease that they need to look after themselves as well.

When & Where: The campaign launched at the beginning of March and runs through April, with creative running on TV (French only), in print and digital/social media (French and English).

Why: Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 150,000 Quebecers, and the FQSA estimates those living with neurocognitive disorders will increase by 70% in the next 10 years—that means a significant increase in the number of individuals looking after those with Alzheimers.

The non-profit wanted to highlight the services and programs available to help support those caregivers, and acknowledge the huge impact the disease has on their lives too.

“There are a lot of excellent campaigns around Alzheimer’s disease around the world. However, very few of them have approached it from a caregiver’s perspective,” says Richard Rochette-Villeneuve, creative director at Cossette.

How: The creative idea underlying the campaign is that while Alzheimer’s is often associated with memory loss, caregivers can forget who they are when they are consumed with looking after someone with the disease. Print and TV ads both show caregivers with their identities blocked out by reminders of the many different tasks and responsibilities they have to do as part of caring for an Alzheimer’s patient.

And we quote: “We chose to focus on the most well-known symptom of the disease, memory loss, and transpose it to loved ones. This distinctive approach not only highlights the impact on everyone who is touched by the disease, but is also unfortunately very true.” — Richard Rochette-Villeneuve, creative director, Cossette