Millions of diabetes cases go undiagnosed. Here’s how this organization attempted to change that!

From the desk of Miles Everson:

Hi!

Welcome to  “Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!”

For those of you who may not be familiar with it, guerrilla marketing is an unconventional strategy that encourages marketers to make use of out-of-the-box strategies when engaging with their target audience.

I believe in this strategy because it’s a reminder that marketing a brand or an offering doesn’t always have to be along conventional lines.

Today, I’ll highlight a health initiative that used an out-of-the-box solution to diagnose an adverse health condition that affects many globally!

Continue reading below!

Millions of diabetes cases go undiagnosed. Here’s how this organization attempted to change that!

Diabetes, left untreated and undetected, could lead to chronic conditions and diseases such as blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, and in some cases, even lower limb amputation.

Unfortunately, people suffering from this condition rose from 200 million in 1990 to 830 million in 2022. It’s also been observed that prevalence has risen rapidly in both low- and middle-income countries.

In India alone, there are roughly 100 million Indians living with diabetes.

What’s more?

Over 50% of those cases go undiagnosed, further exacerbating the problem.

The lack of diagnosis is attributed to limited access to healthcare facilities, high costs, and even gender gaps in healthcare access.

That’s why in 2023,  KVI Brave Fund, in partnership with  Klick Labs,  leveraged technology to bridge this gap.

How?

By developing a smartphone app that would help detect signs of diabetes!

Diabetes screening tests in India rely on blood tests—methods that are costly and require a trip to a healthcare provider for patients. Since not every Indian could make that trip, this proved to be a logistical barrier.

Knowing this problem,  Klick Labs  scientists came up with an unorthodox solution: The  Voice 2 Diabetes  app.

The Voice 2 Diabetes app was designed to run an analysis of the acoustic properties of a person’s voice through the use of an artificial intelligence (AI) model trained on thousands of voice data. 

Researchers conducted a  study  where 267 people who were diagnosed as either non- or Type 2 diabetic recorded voice samples through the app six times each day over a two-week span.

This resulted in over 18,000 recordings. Scientists then analyzed these 14 acoustic characteristics for differences between non-diabetic and Type 2 diabetic individuals.

These characteristics were then processed through the use of machine learning models to identify patterns that could indicate whether a person has diabetes or not.

The results?

The Voice 2 Diabetes app yielded an 89% accuracy for women and 86% accuracy for men.

For a diagnostic test that relies on non-invasive procedures, those results are impressive!

Aside from those results, the app generated over 4 billion impressions worldwide and was covered by over 200 news and media organizations.

The Voice 2 Diabetes app also earned awards from the likes of  D&AD,  UX Design Awards, and  Cannes Lions —all of which are prestigious awards-giving bodies!

There’s no denying that the initiative was a success, given these results!

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KVI Brave Fund and Klick Labs were able to create a tool that not only made headlines but also delivered impact to those who need it most.

The Voice 2 Diabetes app is a tool that empowers individuals and health care facilities to diagnose diabetes early before complications set in.

This also provides an alternative to traditional diagnostic tests that not everyone has access to.

The key takeaway?

Out-of-the-box solutions  can  be used to both grab attention and make a positive impact!

Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.

Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!

Do you want to know  how a guerrilla campaign put women back on Hollywood’s radar?

See it in next week’s article!