War Child: THE POWER OF CHILDHOOD

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: WAR CHILD CANADA
Agency: john st.
Category: Corporate Image
Agency Producer: Alisa Pellizzari (John St.)
Executive Creative Director: Angus Tucker (John St.)
Writer: Keri Zierler (John St.)
Art Director: Hannah Smit (John St.)
Cgi Artist: Jcksn
Photography: Wilson
Photography: Raina
Executive Creative Director: Stephen Jurisic (John St.)

Brief Explanation
The use of sappy, heart-tugging imagery is all too commonly found in campaigns for child-related non-profits. And with so many organizations fighting for the public’s valuable support, time and money, we knew we needed our message to break through.So rather than create another campaign portraying childhood as something powerless and vulnerable, we instead chose to show just powerful it can be.

Implementation
Children may be small, but their potential makes them powerful. This truth inspired our concept for this campaign: using classic icons of childhood – an alphabet block, a yo-yo, and a skipping rope – to disrupt iconic instruments of war. Dark, gritty and textural photography brought to life the frightening and destructive nature of the weapons. In contrast, the childhood objects were coloured War Child’s brand colour, a primary, but powerful red. Simple and pointed copy explained what War Child does to protect childhood where it is needed most. Because where childhood thrives, war does not.

Client Brief Or Objective
Childhood is the pivotal time in our lives that defines who and what we will become. But in communities affected by war, the pillars of a stable childhood – education, opportunity and justice – often get knocked away.War Child gives children in these areas the chance to reclaim their childhood and grow into individuals capable of breaking the cycle of violence and war.Our brief was to raise awareness of War Child’s mission with a campaign about the power of childhood.

Outcome
During the nine weeks the campaign was in market (compared to the previous nine week period), Their Facebook page views increased 97% and the number of people sharing stories about their profile increased 66%.Visits to warchild.ca also increased nearly 50%, one-time donations increase 60%, and Google searches for War Child increase 63%. And with marked increases in time spent on the site and visits to their “About” and “What We Do” pages, we didn’t just drive traffic to their site – users left with a deeper understanding of what War Child does to restore childhood where it is needed most.