2023 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

United Way Halifax is always competing for donation dollars, but from Giving Tuesday (Nov 29) until the New Year they are up against the holiday fundraising efforts of the biggest non-profits in the city and around the world. Their main local competitor is the QEII Foundation, which outspends their marketing and fundraising efforts by more than 3 to 1 annually, and the holiday season is no exception.

After several years of working with United Way Halifax, it became clear that their organization is heavily scrutinized by the public for their use of funds, particularly as it relates to marketing, despite their already limited budgets. Their biggest brand challenge is that they need to make people aware of big issues within their community to compete for donation dollars, recruit volunteers, and advocate for legislation, but do so in a way that doesn’t “look expensive”.

live in a time where most homes actually have their own point of view. To tell a cost-effective and impactful story of homelessness from the perspective of a house, they shot their entire holiday ad on a doorbell. The Plan Non-profits often get good rates or even donated media for traditional placements like TV. But while the placements are cheap, producing a spot to run is expensive. So they set out to leverage those donated placements in a cost-effective way and create a holiday ad that would stand out and live
beyond the placement.

Doorbell footage is inexpensive to produce and is proven to be very popular on social media, receiving higher-than-average view rates. They also loved the disruptive nature of how their doorbell footage would play alongside high-production ads on TV. After some technical testing with various video doorbells, they secured a donated shooting location, assembled a cast of volunteers, and began shooting in the
winter of 2021.

While the main objective was to show the stark contrast between a family enjoying typical holiday activities at home and someone experiencing homelessness, the further they got into writing, they discovered each individual scene could also be used to show the many other privileges of those with a home during the holidays. For example, a package arriving shows the household has disposable income, even in tough times. They have enough food security to allow the children to use a carrot for their snowman’s nose, not to eat. And the friends coming for dinner and shivering on the porch, only have to endure it for a few seconds before heading into a warm house. Once the spot was complete and able to meet broadcast standards despite the quality of doorbell footage, they were ready to share it with the world.

By creating an impactful campaign that demonstrated the creative use of a modest budget, it became United Way Halifax’s first campaign with 99% positive sentiment. Ultimately turning their limited budget into a 157% increase in holiday donations compared to the previous year. The spot immediately struck a chord with their audience and was described as “powerful” and “a beautiful gut punch”.

In its first week, the campaign was picked up by the top 3 television news networks in Canada, received dozens of articles, was shared by the Mayor of Halifax, and even landed in top holiday ad lists alongside the biggest brands in the world – like John Lewis. While this standout strategy achieved their immediate goals for the campaign, it now also serves as a template for creatively leaning into their limited budgets for maximum impact. The total budget for this project was $15k: the strategy/Concept was $5K, the writing/storyboard was $3k and production was $7K.

Credits

Stephen Flynn
Creative Director, Wunder

Mike Postma
Creative Director, Wunder

Cobie McFallon
Project Manager, Wunder