SickKids Reveals Most Ambitious Brand Campaign
Every minute, of every hour, of every day, 365 days a year, children are being treated at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). As we go about our daily lives, we don’t often stop to think about what these patients and their families are going through. As we eat our lunch, ride the subway or watch TV in the comfort of our own homes, a child at SickKids may be undergoing surgery, enduring chemotherapy to treat a life-threatening form of cancer or working with physiotherapists to rehabilitate following an injury.
Part of the poignant empathy that is evoked comes from a recognition of the ordinary things that can so easily be taken for granted as the more than 100,000 children who are treated at SickKids each year spend time in hospital. The SickKids 2014 brand campaign, launched today, aims to tap into that emotion by inviting audiences to witness several SickKids moments that deliver a jarring dose of perspective in a touching way. The campaign, called ‘Better Tomorrows’, is centred on the tagline “Make their tomorrow as good as your today.”
Just Another Day
A small but touching glimpse into the lives of patients and their families at SickKids.
The 30-second commercials are set to the song “Fix You” by British band, Coldplay, chosen to represent the hope SickKids families have that their children will get better. Patients featured in the commercials are between four-days and 18-years-old with conditions ranging from cystic fibrosis to various childhood cancers to organ transplants. Many of these young patients are in active treatment and mustered all of their energy and courage to participate in the campaign to inspire the community to support SickKids this holiday season.
“Make their tomorrow as good as your today.”
“While many people are familiar with the hospital itself, most are not aware of the full scope of what SickKids does, or the breadth of care, research and learning conducted right here in Toronto, day in and day out,” says David Estok, vice president of Brand Marketing and Communications at SickKids Foundation. “Most do not realize that we rely on community support in order to help the hospital provide extremely complex care for the most vulnerable members of our society, and to conduct innovative research projects that advance children’s health care. Through the campaign, we hope to inspire people to make a gift to SickKids this holiday season so we can continue to help fund the critical work that happens here every day.”
The campaign includes 42 30-second spots produced for TV. A different spot will air on conventional and specialty TV each day for 42 days beginning today and running through December 21. Spots will also be available for viewing and sharing on the campaign website and SickKids Foundation’s YouTube Channel. Additional spots, not airing on TV, will be seen in cinema and in online advertising, and will be available via the website, totalling 50 spots. Every day, audiences will have the chance to meet a new patient or staff member who is part of the SickKids community.
“A traditional campaign couldn’t convey the breadth and depth of what happens at the hospital every day,” said Brent Choi, Chief Creative and Integration Officer at JWT Canada. “We could have done 145 spots.”
The campaign also leverages the power of social media to help drive conversation and potential donations through a social campaign called #giveaday for SickKids. The idea is to encourage people to give up something they cherish in their day, such as a game of golf, a nice restaurant meal or a decadent latte, and donate the value of that item or experience to SickKids. This ties into the overall campaign theme of ‘Better Tomorrows’.
The campaign is supported with a media buy that covers TV, print, online and out-of-home advertising in 21 Cineplex movie theatres, as well as a prominent presence on the SickKids Foundation website.
The ‘Better Tomorrows’ concept, creative and digital development was handled by JWT, and Sons and Daughters produced the TV spots, led by Mark Zibert, director. Media planning and buying was managed by Mindshare.
