We are excited to announce Cochlear’s first television commercial. Read on to view the commercial, learn why we decided to create a commercial and our inspiration for the piece (hint: it was all about our recipients and their hearing journeys!):
In January of 2022, Cochlear launched its first national television commercial with a goal to bring a spotlight to the importance of hearing health and cochlear implants. Today, we know that there are more than 37 million people in the United States who struggle with hearing loss1. By promoting cochlear implants on national television, the hope is to generate awareness and reach more people who may be struggling with their hearing aids and educate them about potential solutions.
Check out our commercial by watching below and read on to get a behind-the-scenes look at our inspiration and the creation process.
Inspired by you and your stories
When building our first television commercial, we explored many different ways to express our message and our recipients’ journeys. Every person has their own unique challenges and stories and we wanted to capture the spirit and the emotions that patients have shared as they navigated their own experiences.
“My cochlear implants gave me the freedom to live my life the way it was meant to be lived! With hearing aids, I heard in black and white, whereas with cochlear implants I hear colors! True colors are beautiful, like a rainbow… I am happy to say I am very proud, very blessed and there is nothing I cannot do!” – Cathy, Nucleus® recipient
Like Cathy, we have heard many recipients describe the experience of going from struggling with hearing loss to getting cochlear implants as “going from black & white to color.” We were so inspired by this analogy that we turned it into a key part of the visuals for the television commercial. We see the hero struggling to hear at his family gathering causing his world feels gray with sounds that are mumbled and distorted.
Focusing on connection
As one of our five senses, the ability to hear enables us to connect to the world around us. When we thought about the importance of communication and connection, we knew we wanted to feature them as primary themes throughout the commercial. To contrast the world where the hero is struggling with his hearing loss and hearing aids, we decided to create a full color world to represent our hero reconnecting with his family and friends. We chose to use warm, bold, bright colors to evoke hope and happiness. We wanted to illustrate the incredible variety of the sounds of life and elected to give color to sound waves to every element (no matter how big or small) from the chatter with family to the sounds of a bird chirping or glasses clinking after a toast.
COVID impacts production (but not authenticity!)
When the team first set out to produce the commercial, we were presented with three options – one that included recipients. When faced with the difficult task of making a decision of which of the three to proceed with we factored in the ever present presence of COVID and the potential logistical challenges as part of our criteria. We chose to proceed with an animated commercial however it was critical that we keep every element of the ad as authentic as possible. For example, we worked with a team of animators to determine how we could best visually represent the Cochlear™ Nucleus® 7 Sound Processor so it would look as realistic product as possible when sitting on the hero’s ear.
For over 40 years, we have embraced the privilege of supporting lifelong hearing and we are proud to continue to promote the importance of hearing health and the impact of implantable solutions. We are excited for this new endeavor and we are looking forward to continuing to spread awareness for many years to come.
As seen in Cochlear’s television commercial, if you or a loved one are struggling with hearing loss, visit us at here to learn more about the next steps you can take on your journey to better hearing.
