Condition Critical (MSF)

Condition Critical is a groundbreaking digital campaign by Medecins Sans Frontieres to raise awareness about the conflict in Eastern Congo.

‘The last chapter of Condition: Critical featured stories directly from Congo – just their voices and photos to accompany them. It proved to be the strongest part of the whole campaign and the engagement that people felt having watched them was amazing (as you can see from the message map). Unsurprisingly, people within the organisation are suddenly keen to learn more from duckrabbit about how to produce this kind of multimedia, to better make our patients voices heard.’ Pete Masters, Web Editor, MSF

Duckrabbit has played a dual role in the campaign. Firstly we trained members of the MSF communications team to gather audio and photography and secondly we then used the materials to produce the four films featured in the final surge of the campaign.

The results have been remarkable:

1. The website had 350000 visits between November 2009 and March 2010.

2. 60% per cent of people who start to watch a video on the website, watch it all the way through to the end.

3. The videos have also been featured and embedded on dozens of other websites including The Telegraph, Sky News and Boing Boing.

4. Over 10000 people have visited the website as a result of links to it from Facebook, blogs like The Travel Photographer and other influential websites.

5. Over 2500 people have left messages of support on the website.

6. The videos were screened for two days in a shopping centre in Belgium, reaching thousands more people

We’re particularly proud of this project because it demonstrates both that duckrabbit’s training is effective and that well produced audio slideshows can be more powerful than video. It’s especially important that the videos tell the stories of the people featured in their own voices.

‘I’ve appreciated your strong commitment to the project; your perseverance, hard work, and integrity; and above all your grasp of the reality of DRC and how to tell these stories in way that is compelling, dignified and at the same time raw and honest. Thank you.‘ Jake Wadland, Condition Critical Coordinator

Since we completed the project MSF have contracted us to train all of their UK communications team.

‘Before doing this training I felt I could have a decent stab at recording audio in the Congo. I now know that it would have taken some sort of miracle for me to get really useful audio. I now have the tools to come back with something a bit special. Thank you.’ Robin Meldrum, Publications Officer MSF

MSF UK now not only have the ability to produce multimedia for their own websites but also to offer the work for publication on some of the world’s biggest websites. Remarkably audio slideshows they have produced have been published on the BBC, The Guardian and The New York Times’ website.

‘Many people at MSF believe this is a breakthrough in getting the stories out there, for a bigger audience.’ Bruno Du Cock, MSF Picture Editor

We recommend that you take time to experience the videos and the messages left by viewers on the Condition Critical website here. Alternatively you can watch them embedded below: