SickKids pivots its fundraising message to tout its ‘new approach to care’

With fundraising for a new hospital now complete, SickKids is shifting its message to focus on its Precision Child Health (PCH) model, evolving its “VS.” brand platform to reflect this priority.

Its “Heal the Future” hero spot, set to Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted,” the institution depicts the predictive aspects of medicine, telling the story of a youth’s hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and how things could have turned out had an early intervention not occurred. The campaign is anchored by a film rooted in truth and tragedy, but also hope, inspired by a SickKids patient named Nathan who had the same heart condition.

The spot dramatizes PCH’s ability to search the past, analyze the present and heal the future for a child. PCH is a more individualized form of healthcare, what SickKids says is a revolution in pediatrics that pushes past the limits of one-size-fits-all medicine to focus more deeply on what makes each patient who they are. It does that through deep analysis, looking at everything from a patient’s genetic code to their postal code, something that will define SickKids and the care it provides for years to come.

“PCH is a game-changer for SickKids,” says Kate Torrance, VP and head of brand at the SickKids Foundation. “It’s not just one program or initiative – it’s a seismic cultural shift in how SickKids cares for its patients.”

SickKids is still running the campaign under the “VS.” brand platform, which helped drive the largest fundraising effort in Canadian healthcare history, raising $1.7 billion from over 1.3 million unique donors to build a new hospital. But “Heal The Future” evolves the platform’s tone: while there are still some dramatic moments, the overall feeling is meant to be one of hope.

“’Heal the Future’ is an evolution for the SickKids ‘VS.’ brand and leans into a visual energy and sense of optimism that comes with a hopeful future,” says Anthony Atkinson, ECD at Cossette, the agency once again responsible for the work. “It’s the first time we’ve told the story of a child and what it means to live a fulfilling life when an early diagnosis is possible.”

The move, according to Torrance, is to “separate ourselves from the category, and focus on individual patient stories that have the power to move people to support us.”

The “Heal the Future” campaign roll-out includes high-impact OOH, including Toronto-focused dominations at Yonge Dundas Square, Union Station, a TTC subway train and Billy Bishop Airport.

This is the first time a global team was assembled on a campaign, since the hospital’s impact now goes far beyond Canada’s borders.

Led by Henry Scholfield and Spy Films, the film employs AI and new VFX technology to create the world of PCH, with visuals developed by Studio Feather and Wicked Pixels. Sound design was overseen by New York’s Wave Studios, which collaborated with Toronto’s Vapour Music on the music. The photography was done by Norman Wong. The media buy is OMD.

On September 21, SickKids, with the support of Citizen Relations, marked the arrival of PCH with a larger-than-life crystal ball. It symbolized the idea of healing the future, and honoured SickKids patient Addison (Addy) Hill, who had a rare, aggressive form of cancer.