Launching the Longitude Prize on Dementia

The £4m Longitude Prize on Dementia is a challenge prize that will award the creators of AI and machine-learning technologies with potential to become an extension of the “working brain” of someone living with dementia.

The prize will drive the invention of technology-based tools that will improve everyday life for those with the disease. The global prize is funded by Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK and is delivered by Challenge Works.

Seven’s role at launch has been to amplify Challenge Works’, Alzheimer’s Society’s and Innovate UK’s position in driving the development of a new category of assistive technologies for people living with dementia, and to attract entrants to the prize.

Our Approach

Ahead of a September 2022 launch, we announced the partnership for the prize at a June roundtable event chaired by the FT’s science editor, Clive Cookson. We secured widespread coverage of the initial announcement, including in the Daily Telegraph, as well as in care and innovation trade media.

At launch, we commissioned news-friendly national research among family and friends of people living with dementia to understand how they felt technology could support their loved ones. This helped to convey the relevance of the problem the challenge seeks to address, and the pivotal role that technology could play in doing this.

We worked with expert spokespeople, including people living with dementia, to offer their authoritative insights into the revolutionary potential of this prize.

The launch included a tailored releases for a US and Canadian audiences to drive global interest in the prize.

The Results

During the launch phase, the campaign achieved 460 pieces of coverage with an online reach of 5.59B and estimated online coverage views of 6.04M, print circulation of 1.4M and broadcast reach of 8.5M.

The research was published in the i, as well as numerous trade media. Professor Dame Wendy Hall was interviewed by Nick Robinson on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. We secured an exclusive interview for Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and Chair of the Longitude Committee in the Sunday Times. We secured an exclusive opinion editorial from Kate Lee, CEO of Alzheimer’s Society UK on telegraph.co.uk. Daniel Berman, Director of Global Health and Disability at Challenge Works, was interviewed on Times Radio.

The research data was also regionalised, and distributed to local news outlets across the country, leading to coverage on BBC Radio London, as well as in key regional newspapers. 250 pieces of coverage were secured in the US and Canada, including Canada’s Globe & Mail, and in the US on multiple ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox affiliate news sites.