2024 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Imagine: immediately after raising $1.7 billion to build a new hospital and redefining what it means to be a fundraiser, you had to start all over again... how would you do it?

For over six years, Canadians have rallied behind one goal: build a new hospital. Simple. Clear. Inspiring. But recently, SickKids was ready to launch its next mission.

Healthcare is on the brink of a seismic change: from health care as we know it, to Precision Medicine - that is, the ability to get ahead of disease by better predicting and stopping it before it strikes. More than a shift in approach, it’s a movement that’s being defined and led by SickKids with what is known as Precision Child Health (PCH).

However, the time frame leading up to launch was challenging for charities. Global conflict, pandemic fallout, and inflation left donors with compassion fatigue; there were too many causes fighting for attention and too little support to go around, resulting in a forecasted dip of 40% in charitable giving.

Additionally, SickKids had just finished raising $1.7 billion for a new hospital – a first in Canadian history. Causing many to wonder: why would they need more money? This perception meant the brand’s target was less receptive than ever to a call for donations.

In order to realize PCH’s full potential and change healthcare as we know it, the brand needed funding like never before. Their objective was to help SickKids reach their annual fundraising goal of $195 million at a time when donations were at their lowest.

In soliciting feedback from potential donors to understand what part of PCH was motivating them, the agency observed a common reaction: high-tech medical talk made people's eyes glaze over. With it all feeling so high level, donors struggled to see the "why" – what did any of it actually mean for patients?

If the agency learned anything from their successful VS campaigns, it's that donors are moved by emotional stories that make them feel something.

People don't fund what they don't understand. To potential donors, PCH felt too much like a sci-fi movie – cool but cold, kind of distant, and hard to grasp.

Their strategy was to ditch the complex tech gibberish and focus on one fact that did resonate with donors: that PCH will help predict illness so the brand can stop it before it even begins.

To support this new strategy of hope, the agency evolved the brand. With PCH, SickKids would evolve from fighting against childhood illness, to fighting for healthier futures.

The Agency’s idea centered around the clearest, most powerful expression of why PCH is a meaningful revolution in health care. In a big, bold way, they declared that with Precision Child Health, they will get ahead of illness and “Heal the Future” for all patients.

Whereas SickKids VS was once rooted in a tooth-and-nail fight against childhood illness, they evolved VS to feature brighter tones, more optimistic language and stories of turning tragedy into success.

For the first time in film, the brand followed a single patient throughout his life to garner an emotional connection. Their film went back in time from the moment that cardiac arrest struck Nathan, showing how PCH could search the past and analyze the present situation.

The brand demonstrated that through its advanced predictive modeling, PCH enables SickKids to diagnose faster and treat smarter, so that one day SickKids could even stop illness before it starts. They invited donors to help us change more of these stories and help “Heal the Future” for every patient like him.

The brand’s PR team pre-seeded the campaign by putting a large crystal ball on the hospital grounds, declaring, “when we see the future, we can heal the future”.

Following that, they included their call to action throughout the region with hyper-geotarged OOH boards, 15s OLV and paid social, which drove even greater comprehension and conversion.

This brand evolution meant that the “Heal the Future” campaign didn't just launch the future of care. It also launched the next phase for SickKids.

The campaign exceeded their annual objective of $195 million, raising over $200 million, 9,557 new Monthly Donors joined the brand’s mission, 26% above their target, with a lifetime value of $7.7M.

The brand increased awareness of PCH by 30%, with SickKids being the #1 hospital associated with advancing Precision Medicine; 29% higher than their nearest competitor.

Despite evolving the wildly successful VS campaign, “Heal the Future” continued to drive brand perceptions forward, with the overall impression of SickKids growing 5%.

Credits

Agency: Cossette
Chief Creative Officer: Sabaa Quao
Executive Creative Director: Anthony Atkinson
Head of Craft: Greg Kouts
VP, Managing Director: Julie Haroutunian
VP, Managing Director, Production: Andrea Ogunbadejo
Group Creative Director:Sarah Rutherford
Creative Director/Copywriter: Kay Benedek, Lorne Heller
Creative Director/Art Director: Andy Ng, Justin Luu
Copywriter: Paul Boychuk
Art Director: Clayton DuQuene
Head of Design: Jenna Anderson
Associate Creative Director, Design: Chelsea Palmer
Senior Graphic Designer: Paula Dopuda
Motion Designer: Sam Perrin
Agency Producer: Heather Blom, Dawn-Marie Mills
Group Business Director: Valerie Mascarin
Business Director: Alex Hughes
Account Executive: Magellan Jull
VP, Strategy Director: Geraldine Tixier
Senior Strategy Director: McKenzie Taylor
Strategist: Liam Black
Retoucher: Trevor Gauthier / Hailey Williams / Simon Tuckett / Ian Pool
Production Artist: Shireen Kok / Dwayne-Mark Aranha


Production Company: Spy Films
Director - Henry Scholfield
Executive Producer - Marcus Trulli
Line Producer - Amalie Bruun
Production Manager - Chris Knaap
Production Coordinator - Tyler Klementti
Talent Coordinator - Shari Funk
In House Coordinator - Leah Munro
Creative Assistant - Guilherme Braz
1st Assistant Director - Marc Guspie, Laurie Mirsky
2nd Assistant Director - Mollie Rolfe, Ian Carl
Casting House & Casting Director: Mann Casting - Stephen Mann
Casting Associate - Sarah Sheps


Production Company: Telescope Films
Director/ Photographer: Norman Wong
Photographer (neutral assets): Luis Mora
Executive Producer: Christian Tyler
Executive Producer, Stills: Kathi Ziolkowski, KZM Agency
Producer: Alex Dall’Orso
Associate Producer: Connor Brown

Inspired Film Camera team:
Director of Photography: Pat Aldinger
1st AC - Joel Micomonaco
2nd AC - Luis Plana
Ronin Operator - David Grif
Scorpio Operator - Ross Fasullo
Mixer - Brian Hanish
Boom - Trevor Calhoun
Video - Many Rego
DIT - Randy Perry
DIT (Lidar) - Lany Bolger
Scri