Talk about a challenge. Your roots date back to the buggy whip. But few have a clue as to what your organization actually does. The YWCA is hoping to change all that with a new on-air branding campaign designed to get to the heart of what Canada’s oldest – since 1893 – and largest women’s organization is all about.

Elaine Teofilovici, YWCA Canada’s CEO, says she was stunned by the results of a survey conducted two years ago by Vertex Consultants of Toronto, which showed that most Canadians believe the YWCA is little more than a hostel with a pool. Worse, most people surveyed confused the YWCA with the YMCA, according to the study.

‘What we really needed to do was to communicate the idea that the YWCA is a women’s organization and that we deal with domestic violence and we’re not the YMCA,’ Teofilovici explains.

Teofilovici says the new branding message is targeted at all Canadians – everyone from politicians to women and families, to volunteers. The two new 30-second spots – the first TV ads for the organization in 15 years – strike at the heart of its mission.

Developed by Toronto agency Zig and set to air later this fall, the public service announcements feature women who are clearly on the verge of leaving abusive relationships. They end with the message that the YWCA is there to help.

The new spots were designed to give life to dramatic statistics such as the fact that the average woman tries to leave an abusive situation five times before she succeeds in doing so. In one spot, a woman leaves her house by the front door. But the action rewinds over and over, suggesting how many attempts she will make to leave her abuser.

The second spot shows another woman in the earlier stages of leaving. She walks down the hall and into a bathroom. After casually checking her appearance in the mirror, she then puts a chair under the door lock. But after a moment, she takes it away, and looks back at her reflection before leaving the bathroom once again. The tagline for the campaign is ‘A turning point for women.’

Client: YWCA

Agency: Zig

Creative Directors: Elspeth Lynn/Lorraine Tao

Copywriter: Jennifer Wilson

Art Director: Rosalinda Graziano

Project Manager: Nicole Hrinco

Producer: Amanda Loughran