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How one agency reframed sick children as fighters and raised $1.5 billion for a hospital.
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In this episode
- Why treating a charity like a performance brand changed fundraising results
- How a bold VS concept survived media backlash and came out stronger
- What the original creative brief and strategic objective actually looked like
- How a risky idea became the largest fundraiser in Canadian health care history
About this episode
One simple idea forever changed the face of charity: Sickness doesn’t mean weakness.To meet the aggressive fundraising goals of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, creative agency Cossette decided to stop talking like a charity brand and start acting like a performance brand. It showed the world what it looks like when sick fights back.
Launched in 2016, SickKids’ VS brand had the ambitious target of raising $1.5 billion – making it the largest fundraiser in Canadian health care history. By March of 2023, that $1.5-billion target had been met.
The campaign was a big risk with the bold ‘VS’ concept, and there was a media ‘backlash’, but that drew more supporters out of the woodwork.
The risk paid off, and the VS brand strategy became an instantly recognisable hit, with celebrities taking part (Cold Play’s ‘Fix You’ was donated for 30-second spots), and people got VS tattoos.
In this episode, we take a look back at where it all began. The idea, the origin story, the objective and the risk.
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About Partners In Possibility
In an ever-changing world it’s all about staying connected, building connections, and seeing where the next collaboration takes a marketing campaign. From an initial brief to the follow-through, teamwork, and final execution:What paths are going to make a campaign’s success more than a possibility?
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