2022 Winner

Sunnybrook Hospital - Parent and Infant Loss (PAIL) Network

Unsilence the Conversation

No Fixed Address

SilverBudget-Savvy Strategy

For many expecting parents the thought of pregnancy loss is not something openly discussed, even when it happens to them. However, an estimated 1 in 4 pregnancies end in loss, causing unspeakable hardship and pain. To make matters worse, grieving families are left to navigate their sorrow and pain in isolation as social taboos discourage people from speaking openly about pregnancy loss. Incredibly, 1 in 3 women who experience pregnancy loss aren’t even comfortable talking to their closest friends about their pain.

Sunnybrook PAIL wanted to raise awareness by challenging the harmful taboo surrounding pregnancy loss. All efforts would work towards minimizing unnecessary suffering and connecting grieving families to support services. Despite the importance of the task, they wouldn’t have any paid media budget to amplify their efforts to overcome the challenge set out by PAIL.

Their starting point was a powerful insight embedded in the challenge: many of our loved ones and close friends have suffered in silence due to a harmful taboo surrounding pregnancy loss. However in their subsequent research, they uncovered another insight that would further equip PAIL on its mission to minimize unnecessary suffering of pregnancy loss.

In addition to suffering in isolation, those who experience pregnancy loss are reminded daily about their loss. Why? Advertising. The ‘new parents' segment represents one of the largest ad networks with an estimated 3.5 million Canadians. If you fall into this segment, you’re targeted with baby ads for up to 540 days, causing tremendous pain for people who have experienced pregnancy loss. A few brave voices shared the pain triggered by advertising, claiming they couldn’t escape the endless barrage of baby ads following a pregnancy loss. But knowing the scale of pregnancy loss in Canada (1 in 4), they knew that many, many more people were suffering unnecessarily as a result of these ads. Although they couldn’t remove the pain of a pregnancy loss, they could help them escape the daily painful reminders.

Since stigma had forced pregnancy loss into the shadows, they had to bring it into the light. Their first step was to release a powerful video revealing the pervasiveness of pregnancy loss with the heartbreaking truth that many of our loved ones and closest friends have suffered in silence.

But they knew they needed to do more than raise awareness. Working off their second insight, they then built the #UnsilenceTheConversation toolkit, which had two key resources to help families experiencing a pregnancy loss.

First, the Baby Ad Opt Out Plugin; a way to get around parenting ads, with a user-friendly interface designed to walk parents through the simple steps involved on every social platform: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and email. Second, the Unbirth Announcement: designed to provide a voice for those that were having trouble finding their own voice, the digital video was created to capture the complex emotions that come with pregnancy loss in a way that families could relate to and share on social media channels, calling for support from their community. Both elements were available for all Canadians at UnsilenceTheConversation.com.

Their true human insight and a powerful CTA struck a chord, spreading through social and earned media with grieving parents and supporters coming out of their personal isolation to #UnsilenceTheConversation. With no signs of slowing down, the conversation has garnered over 78 million impressions to date showcased on top outlets like CTV National, Toronto Star, Global News, CityNews, MSN, Postmedia, to name a few. Prominent media personalities even joined in the conversation, sharing their own experiences in interviews with their PAIL spokesperson. Families and influencers across the nation immediately related to their message, with a 7200% increase in conversation from before the campaign launched.

Awareness for the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Network has also hit an all-time high, with site traffic up 19% and 25% of visitors sharing the Unbirth Announcement video. All without a single dollar in paid media.

With all their efforts to break down a taboo and spark change, the conversation has begun to become unsilenced to eliminate unnecessary suffering.

Credits
Sunnybrook Foundation | PAIL Network
Michelle LaFontaine, Program Manager · PAIL Network- Sunnybrook Health Sciences
Christina Topp, VP Marketing and Community Engagement, Sunnybrook Foundation

No Fixed Address
Executive Sponsor Jordan Doucette, President, NFA
Creative Domenique Raso, Associate Creative Director/ Copywriter, Anand Iyer, Associate Creative Director/ Art Director
Strategy Zach Klein, VP Strategy Nathan Mohan, Planner
Account Service Josie Daga, EVP General Manager
Digital, Product + Platform Darrin Patey, VP of Creative Technology, Radek Zajkowski, VP, Technology, Victoria Di Valerio, Digital Associate Creative Director, Jonathan Sanford, Developer
Agency Producer Louanne Chan, Producer
Project Management Julia Rajic, VP, Operations, Petra Simpson, Project Director
PR Ray McIroy, VP PR, Erin Banting, Director of PR, Mackenzie Biddie, Senior Account Manager, PR

Production House Stack Films, Gordon Poon, Director, DP, Rebecca Ho, Producer

Editorial School Yumi Suyama, Executive Producer Jon Devries, Editor

Color Colour by Vanity Brock Cruess, Colourist, Nicole Labbe, Producer

VFX Colour by The Vanity Brock Cruess, Colourist, Nicole Labbe, Producer

Audio - OSO Grayson Music Chris Cobain, Voice Director, Brian Bernard, Engineer, Rich Hamilton, Music Supervisor, Kelly McCluskey, Producer

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