Red Cross: AMERICAN RED CROSS STORIES PROJECT CAMPAIGN, 4

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: AMERICAN RED CROSS
Agency: BBDO NEW YORK
Category: Advertising Typography
Art Producer: Alison Berk (BBDO New York)
Print Producers: Catherine Wilcott (BBDO New York)
Account Team: Christina Liu (BBDO New York)
Director Of Integrated Production: David Rolfe (BBDO New York)
Copywriter: Iain Nevill (BBDO New York)
Senior Creative Director: Linda Honan (BBDO New York)
Art Director: Julia Blackburn (BBDO New York)
Print Producers: Mike Musano (BBDO New York)
Account Team: Tara Deveaux (BBDO New York)
Print Producers: Desiree Principe (BBDO New York)
Chief Creative Officer: David Lubars (BBDO New York)
Account Team: Gisell Galan (BBDO New York)
Account Team: Jodi Mcleod (BBDO New York)
Retoucher: Steve Lakeman (BBDO New York)

Implementation
We chose to create our own typeface throughout the kit - playful, friendly lettering all written and painted by hand. We encouraged people to feel comfortable participating in the project by using friendly messaging throughout - an introductory envelope that said “hello,” a stamp on the box that said “made with love” and informal handwritten questions in the journals.When we received people’s stories, their handwriting became the typography of our headlines and copy. Now our role as designers was to step back and let their writing and stories be the hero.

Brief Explanation
With only one chance to illicit the best content possible, our kit had a huge responsibility to inspire and excite our storytellers. The typography had to ensure they would get creative and have fun when filling out their journals. As part of the Red Cross brand, the kits also had to feel very human and humble - never appearing too flashy or ‘over-designed’.And for total authenticity, the handwritten type we were sent back had to be used with little to no interference or manipulation.

Outcome
The storytelling kits performed better than anyone could have hoped.Our predicted 1 in 20 quality rate was blown out the water with 1 in 2 kits providing quality content.We received over 2,000 photos and approximately 100 completed journals. This allowed us to create an entire campaign using beautiful content created entirely by those helped by the Red Cross.Peggy Dyer, Chief Marketing Officer, added, “In its first month of airing, the campaign has contributed to our most successful year-end fundraising results ever, significantly outpacing last year's results.”

Client Brief Or Objective
Most people only think of the Red Cross in the wake of a major disaster. We had to make the brand more personally relevant everyday by telling people everything the Red Cross does and connecting them emotionally with the brand. We needed to communicate all six lines of service in a way that would connect with a broad target of charitable givers. We were going to tell the organization’s full story by giving a voice to people helped daily by them. We created two unique storyteller kits – one with a video camera, the other with a photo camera and blank journal – that would let people tell their stories with no interference from us.