of Canadians agree that charities are important.

Let’s get them talking.93%

Created by:Courtney Brecht

Emily DoerCorinne Rikkelman

I am a charity casestudents (verb) charities entry

backgroundStudents (Verb) Charities faces a unique challenge in uniting all charities and

charitable institutions as a single cause or entity. We want to motivate all

Canadians to stand behind and declare their support for Canadian charities.

Our campaign goal is to build upon this support and following, resulting in the

betterment of our communities and our country. To do so, we have created a

campaign that motivates and speaks to target audiences, using their own voice.

Primary – Real World Wonders (family men and women ages 35-50)

Secondary – Striving Students (tech-savvy men and women ages 18-35)

Tertiary – Movers and Shakers (men and women with political clout ages 50+)

target audiences

charity case campaign

the big ideaOur big idea is to expose that charities are everywhere, and we are all involved with

them in our daily activity whether we realize this or not - everyone is a “Charity

Case.” We want to take a traditionally negative connotation and turn it into a positive

and empowering awareness statement. We used clever humour in our messaging to

captivate our audiences and deliver a very strong, serious, and powerful message.

We show our audiences that schools, hospitals, churches, fire halls, etc. are all

charities. We all use these services; we are all charity cases and we should be proud

of these services and proud to be charity cases. This campaign positions Canadian

charities as invaluable social services that make our communities what they are.

Our campaign is about using relatable situations to encourage conversation in our

target audiences and our tone will be honest and encouraging. We want people

sharing their stories about their experiences with Canadian charities, and how it

changed their lives for better. Our creative team of Corinne, Courtney, and Emily will

use the “Charity Case” concept with repetitive visuals across a variety of media:

PSA (30sec) – We created a montage three different scenarios featuring Canadians

acknowledging and embracing that they are Charity Cases. We chose charities

how?

that average Canadians rely on every day, and may not even realise are in fact

charities. We feature a small town fire fighter, a young woman donating blood, and

students going to school. All of these examples are charity and volunteer based

services that society depends on. The template for the PSA is flexible,creating an

opportunity to showcase a variety of scenarios.

Our vision for this PSA is to use strong visuals and graphics to display our facts,

and our actors and actresses holding signs that say, “I am a charity case.” We use

statistics and facts about charities to introduce our concept. We close our PSA

with a call to action, urging Canadians to visit our website to learn more and find

out how they can get involved.

PRINT – In a format similar to our PSA’s we took the message and made them

into print ads. We wanted to keep these visuals consistent so that we could build

a strong identifiable campaign by giving our creative a similar tone and style.

Because of the simplicity of the design and concept the images are flexible and

can be used on busses, bus shelters, billboards, print ads, web advertisements and

more.

Once the campaign has been established, we can begin to introduce twists to the

copy such as “I am a Charity Case” , “So am I”, or “We are Charity Cases”. This will

open up a broader range of scenarios and visuals to keep things interesting.

radio - The message translates easily to audio only. The radio spots showcase

several voices and scenarios admitting why they are proud to be charity cases.

These will resonate with our “Real World Wonders”, as they listen to relatable

stories on their favourite radio station during the drive to and from work each

day.

SHIRTS – We designed coloured t-shirts that say, “I am a Charity Case,” and

“#CharityCase” for prizes and fundraising tools. These shirts are a fun component

which encourages Canadians to proudly display that they are a Charity Case. This

element is affordable and campaignable to our broad audience.

Our vision for the success of these t-shirts is similar to that of the LIVESTRONG

bracelets, or the Support Our Troops car decals. These t-shirts are going to be a

sounding board for the movement, allowing our audience to identify themselves as

Charity Cases, and get our message out there.

WEB – The online elements of this campaign is crucial: this is where the sharing

happens. Set up a Facebook account where people can write in their very own local,

“Charity Case” story and create a conversation about charities.

Once we build a following we would have a “Charity Case” contest where people

could submit and share their story for a chance to win a prize. We want to use

Instagram and Twitter for t-shirt contests where people will take photos of

themselves or their friends wearing their t-shirts at a charity that matters to

them and their community. Our audiences and followers will use the hashtag,

“#charitycase” to share stories and get us trending. These tactics will help us create

buzz across integrated social media platforms.

Our audience can visit the website (iamacharitcase.ca) to learn more about the

campaign, and how Canadian charities make our communities what they are. People

can anonymously share their stories here in a similar format to the images posted

on PostSecret. (postsecret.com). These images/memes could be cross-posted to

different social media platforms like Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, etc.

going forwardCelebrity Endorsement - Once the campaign becomes familiar to Canadians, awareness

can be increased substantially by means of celebrity endorsement, where I am a

Charity Case has the ability to become a national movement. Howie Mandel was born

in (North York,) Ontario. He is a world- renowned comedian, actor, television host,

and above all, a proud Canadian. He has made a difference by speaking out about his

personal struggles with ADHD, mysophobia, and has been a strong advocate for mental

health awareness. He knows how important advocacy and charitable organizations

are. (Our vision for) Future campaigns can feature scenarios where Howie Mandel

reprises his Deal or No Deal persona. He will encourage Canadians to Open Your

Charity Case, where briefcases contain various roles or charitable organizations that

describe the person opening it. For example, Howie surprises a woman on the street,

she opens her case to reveal the title of “Marathon Runner” or “#1 Mom”.

Future Campaigns - This campaign is simple yet memorable, and it has the capacity to

grow and evolve in a number of different ways for future campaigns. Once Canadians

become more familiar with the “Charity Case” concept, an extension of this campaign

would be “We’ve got a Case of the Charities.” This campaign would introduce

Canadians to the volunteer charitable sector with a goal of highlighting volunteers

who are proud to give back to, and be a part of their communities and local charitable

organizations.

“Charity Case” is a memorable and distinct concept, and is an idea that is new and

innovative. This messaging is bold and risqué, but by taking a lighter approach with

strong and sincere messages and visuals, this campaign is applicable to many different

mediums, and will captivate, motivate, and instigate dialogue across the country.

The campaign will position all Canadian charities as an integral part of establishing a

strong community. “I am a Charity Case” is an engaging and memorable way to introduce

Canadians to charitable organizations that may be new to them, and exemplify how

these people and places impact our everyday lives. Using constant audience involvement

and real, relatable stories will help to solidify a dynamic, personal, and trustworthy

message. “I am a Charity Case” is a fun and memorable way to introduce Canadians to

the range of charities, and the impact that they have on our daily lives. By involving the

audience in our campaign it’ll create a dynamic, personal, and trustworthy campaign.

We recommend using traditional media and new media to communicate our messages to

a broad audience. By creating an integrated social media platform we will create online

buzz with our up and coming secondary audience, “Striving Students.” Traditional media

outlets like print and television will position the “Charity Case” campaign as a trust-

worthy cause, and Imagine Canada as the go-to source for Canadian charity information.

to sum it all up

creative samples enclosed

Script 1FEMALE 1: I am a mother, and I’m a Charity Case.

MALE 1: I’m a blood donor,

FEMALE 2: a librarian,

FEMALE 3: a student.

MALE 2: I am a volunteer firefighter

OLDER MALE 3: a cancer survivor,

CHILD 1: the best defense on my team.

MALE 3: I am a Charity Case.

ANNCR: We all have stories that define us, but we all have

one thing in common. We are all charity cases. Charities have

become such a part of our society, we sometimes forget they’re

there, but their doors couldn’t stay open without your help.

Visit I- AM- A -CHARITY -CASE- DOT- CA to tell us your story.

“We are all Charity Cases” Radio CampaignWhen: To run in concordance with print/digital adsTime: 30 secondsRecommendationsDiverse voice actor styles, distinct range in agesMusic – Hopeful, happy music bed

Script 1FEMALE 1: I am a mother, a painter, and an organ donor. I’ve been

volunteering at the food bank for the past 4 years and I just paid off my

mortgage. I am a Charity Case. We all have stories that define us, but

we all have one thing in common. We are all charity cases. In Canada,

charities are woven into the fabric of our society, so we sometimes

forget they’re here, but their doors couldn’t stay open without your

help. Visit I -AM -A -CHARITY- CASE- DOT -CA to tell us your story.

“We are all Charity Cases” Radio CampaignWhen: To run in concordance with print/digital ads

Time: 30 seconds

Recommendations: Calm, friendly actor, slow pace,

conversational

Music – Hopeful, happy music bed

swag & social mediaThis campaign’s got swag - T-Shirts, lanyards, stickers, why not?Having a tangible connection to the campaign will help bring the message home (literally).

T- Shirts:Unisex (American Apparel)Available in many coloursIncluded in prize packs “I am a Charity Case” &“#CharityCase”

Pinterest/Website:

swag & social media We’ve developed a social media strategy design to get people to talk about, and share their stories on a number of platforms.

Twitter & Instagram:

The

PSA(30 seconds)

the print ads

Janine, 34Mother, Painter, Organ Donor

TELL US YOUR CASE AT IamaCharityCase.ca

WE’RE ALLCHARITY CASES.

I am a

Charity

Case

Case Stu

dy No. 0

08

Case Stu

dy No. 0

08

Case Stu

dy No. 0

11

Sparks, 4Left the shelter with his

“furever” family

TELL US YOUR CASE AT IamaCharityCase.ca

WE’RE ALLCHARITY CASES.

I am aCharity Case

Case Stu

dy No. 0

05

Thomas, 6Donated his Tooth Fairy

money to a homeless shelter

i am a

charity CASE

WE’RE ALLCHARITY CASES. TELL US YOUR CASE AT

IamaCharityCase.ca

TELL US YOUR CASE AT IamaCharityCase.ca

Case Stu

dy No. 0

05

Case Stu

dy No. 0

02

Ruth, 72Ran her first Fun Run to raise

money for cancer research

TELL US YOUR CASE AT IamaCharityCase.ca

WE’RE ALLCHARITY CASES.

I am acharity case

“I am a charity case”

“...So am i”