Organ donation is something that 15- to 24-year-old Ontarians don’t commonly have on the brain. That’s what Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) is hoping to change with a brazen multi-platform campaign telling them that it’s a cause they should open up to.
Developed by Narrative Advocacy Media and Mighty Digital, Direct + Design (both units of Toronto-based Bensimon Byrne), the effort kicked off on April 20 with a tongue-in-cheek PR event in Toronto promoting the opening of ‘Heart Barn,’ a pretend peddler of human hearts.
Using the tagline ‘If organs and tissue were this easy to find, we wouldn’t need donors,’ transit shelter ads, interior transit cards, wild postings and online banner ads let young people throughout the province know that since organs don’t come cheap these days, they should seriously consider recycling theirs by visiting Recycleme.org, an interactive microsite where they can register as an organ donor.
Greeted by Ben, a character whose chest opens like barn doors to give them the inside scoop on major organs, visitors can access video testimonials from donor families and recipients, footage from actual organ transplants and a forum to discuss the topic.
‘The strategy is to make youth aware of organ and tissue donation, not just that it exists, but as a cause that needs them,’ says Troy Palmer, associate CD at Bensimon Byrne, ‘and to give them the sense and the belief that they have the power to save a life.’
TGLN is also using social media to communicate with young bloods, including a Twitter page maintained by a human liver and a Facebook fan page that houses content not available on the microsite.
The creds:
advertiser: Trillium Gift of Life Network
agencies: Narrative Advocacy Media, Mighty Digital, Direct + Design
CDs: David Rosenberg, Jon Toews
ACDs: Troy Palmer, Michael Lee
ADs: Michael Lee, Ulyssis Crisostomo
writer: Troy Palmer
illustrator: Geoff Donovan
digital copywriter: John Czikk
account team: Amanda Alvaro, Nitsa Staikos-Sills, Natali Tofiloski
production manager: Steve Barrett
VFX: Ignition Digital, Robert Clegg
prodco: Calibre Entertainment
director: Calum deHartog
