Client: SickKids Foundation
Product: SickKids Hospital
Title: SickKids VS
Media: OMD
Country: Canada
Date Of Campaign: October 17, 2016

Background: SickKids Foundation, the foundation arm of SickKids Hospital, was setting records for donations; however, the money was coming from the same donor set, which was aging out and skewed heavily female. In addition, donations in Ontario were in decline in both the percentage of people donating as well as the volume of those donations. With the ambitious goal of generating $1 billion in donations over the next 5 years we needed to jolt new donors off of the sidelines. We were asked to attract net new donors while maintaining a base with a platform that would provide SickKids with years of opportunity.Consumers were becoming trained to expect a specific tone and message from cause marketing. That training was leading them to ignore the multitude of pleas from every direction. In order for new potential donors to donate, they needed to know that they were supporting a winning organization, but that that they could help achieve tangible results even in the smallest amounts. People are far more likely to donate if they feel that an organization is on the cusp of something significant and far more apt to pay attention when a tone shifts significantly.

Idea: We focused on shifting SickKids from a 'cause' brand to a 'performance' brand in the vein of Nike and Under Amour. The brief became SickKids is taking on the greatest challenges in child health and we are winning. But, we won't stop until every kid is a healthy kid. The transformational platform became SickKids VS The Greatest Challenges in Child Health. We launched with a 2 minute online film which featured hard-hitting action of real SickKids patients, families and staff battling the greatest challenges in child health. We changed all of the signage at the hospital, created out of home billboards and dominated Dundas Square and TTC Streetcars. The website changed and donors, when they donated, could identify the cause they are fighting. We even made personalized t-shirts and created a giant neon VS sign to be placed in the hospital for kids and their families to pose in front of for photos before a procedure or a meeting with a doctorWe then launched a series of online films, which explored the complexity of the hospital by telling the story of Grace, a child who lost her battle with cancer, but inspired an entire research team to fight for a cure with SickKids VS. Cancer. We then featured Hartley, who, after a dozen surgeries, told the need for more operating rooms with SickKids VS 100 Today. And, finally, the story of the hospital rallying to ensure Santa Claus could find the children at the hospital, a major source of anxiety for kids who are at SickKids for the holidays with SickKids VS. Missing Home.

Results: For the period of October 2016 to December 2016 SickKids reported: • All-time Donation record for a campaign of $57.9 million in the first 3 months • Online donation revenue rose by 695% and the average online donation hit an all-time high of $188 • 32% increase in transactions • 63% increase in average donation amount • Unprecedented increase in male and millennial donations • 8 million+ video views • 4000 VS t-shirts sold