2024 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

In 2023, the North York General Hospital Foundation announced an ambitious goal to raise $32 million to build a new birthing center that matches the quality of care it provides. This fundraising goal was especially ambitious given North York General is located in Canada’s most competitive fundraising city and most sought after donors.

Within a 20 kilometer proximity to North York General there are several of Canada’s biggest fundraisers. To mention a few, SickKids Foundation who are on track to secure 1.3 Billion dollars in donations, the University Health Network which is Canada's biggest hospital network foundation bringing in north of $230 Million per year, and other hospitals like Sunnybrook and Markham Stouffville who are similar in size and located very close to North York General and its community.

The agency’s task was to put North York General on the map as a leader in labour and delivery care competing with the biggest fundraisers in Canada, starting by growing the brand’s donor pool and generating donation leads for the new birthing center.

The cross-functional team working on this project had a mix of birthing experiences at different times and with different storylines. But whether it was the younger members on the team who just gave birth or the older ones who had given birth many years prior, everyone related to one thing: we all felt unprepared to give birth and were unaware of all the realities that come with it.

That’s because traditional books like “What to expect when you’re expecting” feel clinical and impersonal, leaving out the emotion, the rawness, the taboo of pregnancy and childbirth.

When you get to the delivery room and beyond, there are many surprises coming your way – from the fact that the epidural can make you itchy, to it being completely normal if your baby looks bluish/gray when they’re born. This realization landed us at the brand’s insight – despite the sea of pregnancy books out there, most expecting parents still feel utterly alone and unprepared for their experience.

Although the brand landed at an interesting insight, because they were so much smaller than their fundraising competition, the brand needed to avoid the standard approach to lead generation.

In healthcare, the majority of lead generation campaigns are ‘basic’: a banner ad, an opt in, a patient story followed by a CTA that says ‘hear more about what happens here’.

That was not going to cut it, not when the brand is competing with bigger fundraisers. So they sought to do something that has never been done by a hospital before; turn a hospital into a top selling author.

The brand tapped into untold, raw truths that no one knows about giving birth, and developed “What No One Tells You When You’re Expecting”.

This would be a first of its kind book from a hospital to help new parents know what to really expect when they’re expecting, from real experiences and real parents. They then designed those personal anecdotes with custom illustrations that made them more human and relatable.

The brand put out a call for submissions using social, OOH, and in-hospital ad placements.

Then, they selected the most relevant to create the brand’s 150-page book, complete with vibrant colours and beautiful, custom illustrations that brought their submissions to life.

The brand made the book available to all new parents at North York General Hospital, in OB offices, and sold it through the biggest book distributor: Amazon. Parents immediately resonated with their initiative, garnering thousands submissions in the first month. When it was time to launch the book, the brand leveraged an earned media first approach to bolster the conversation and spread the word. They also distributed the book to key influencers who they knew the content of the book would resonate with.

After its release, “What No One Tells You When You’re Expecting” debuted at No. 1 on Amazon’s Pregnancy & Childbirth bestseller list and was the No. 1 Most Gifted book in the category. Since then, the book has remained on both lists, signaling a particular resonance among Canadian expecting parents and caregivers.

Most importantly, the book exceeded the brand’s key objectives. It delivered a staggering 300% increase in donor leads. The book also drove more than 3.7MM Impressions approximately 270% above goal. And finally, drove 67K website visits exceeding the brand’s 30K objective.

The campaign also sparked interest among top tier new on top shows including Your Morning, CBC, and Canada’s longest running show for women: Cityline.

Credits

Agency: Courage
Partner, President: Niki Sahni
CCO, Founder: Joel Holtby
CCO, Founder: Dhaval Bhatt
Partner, CSO: Tom Kenny
CD, Writer: Domenique Raso
CD, Art Director: Cindy Marie Navarro
Designer: Marina Khouzam
Executive Director of Development: Shannon Miller
Group Strategy Director: Rami Dudin
Account Director: Kat Ledgett
Account Executive: Darita Odobo
EP: Clair Galea
Print Producer: Sharon Langlotz
Producer: Rachel D’Ercole
Editor: Marcus Barrie

Client: North York General Foundation
President, CEO: Seanna Millar
President, CEO (former): Terry Pursell
Chief Marketing, Communications Officer: Ya Shan Waley
Chief Communications Officer: Janine Hopkins
Director, Marketing, Communications: Lori D’Amore
Sr Specialist, Digital, Graphic Design: Cody Brifoglio

PR: Middle Child
Managing Director: Sean Citrigno
VP: Gillian DiCesare
Account Manager: Sophia Naprawa
Senior Account Executive: Charlotte Hefner
Senior Account Executive: Madeline Seale
Account Executive: Courtney Eves

Illustrations: Hesty Reps
Illustrator: Emilie Muszczak
Managing Partner: Lisa Batke

Studio: MH Studio
Director Client Strategy: Phu Pham
Integrated Project Manager: Morgan Chan
Production Lead: Franco Piane
Graphic Designer: Matthew Senra
Graphic Designer: Jordan Orford

Printer: Flash Reproduction
Account Manager: Steve Frattaroli
Project Manager: Cathay Gario Kocevski

Video Production
Production Company: Westside Studio
Director, Photographer: Teaunna Gray
EP: Ellie Winston
Director of Photography: Santiago Trugeda
Key Grip: Andrei Ermolaev
Assistant Camera: Raihan Mobasherul
Digital Tech, Retouching: Will Cox

Production Company: Creator One Productions
EP, Director: Jordan De Guzman
Photographer: Joe De Leon
Cinematographer: Prince Balatbat

Transfer: Alter Ego
EP: Hilda Periera
Producer: Jane Garrah
Colorist: Lily Henry

Audio: Vapor Music
Managing Partner: Lindsey Bates
EP: Kailee Nowosad
Production Coordinator: Matilde Mata
Engineer: Ryan Chalmers

Media: Other, Outfront Media