CAMH puts addiction deaths in a new light

CAMH Foundation is taking a “bold step” by literally shining a spotlight on the grim toll drug addiction is taking on Canadians.

In a somber hero video, people of all ages and backgrounds are on podiums and gathered under a series of spotlights, which turn off one at a time to represent the 20 Canadians whose lives are lost daily from overdose.

It’s part of “No One Left Behind,” CAMH’s largest ever fundraising effort introduced last year with the goal of raising $500 million for life-saving research.

The campaign is informed by the 700% spike in the number of people visiting CAMH’s emergency department due to amphetamines between 2014 and 2021, what Dr. Leslie Buckley, CAMH’s chief of addictions and a key consultant on the campaign, calls an “unprecedented crisis.” That’s on top of an opioid epidemic that has seen deaths in Canada set new records annually for nearly 10 years.

“It’s a bold step for us to face this issue in such a public way,” says Ian Barr, head of strategy at Camp Jefferson, CAMH’s AOR. “We’re all either directly or indirectly feeling the toll of the addictions crisis whether personally, or seeing its effects on family, friends and coworkers.”

As Barr points out, in the spot, as dark as the current drug crisis might be, CAMH is a beacon of hope. However, Barr concedes that the mental health and addictions space is highly complex and there are lots of moving parts to CAMH beyond fundraising. “We try to be as accommodating and flexible to a broad range of inputs and perspectives.”

Prior to creating the February campaign, the agency took a step back to really define the brand and its positioning in the market, and according to Barr, knew it had a powerful internal articulation when “members of the staff who’ve been there for 20 years cried in the room and told us it reminded them of why they joined the organization.”

“We launched the ‘No One Left Behind’ platform in February to align with CAMH’s major fundraising goal announcement,” Barr says, telling strategy this campaign runs as an extension of that program, building momentum ahead of the giving season.

For mass donors, categorical giving kicks off in November, spiking for Giving Tuesday, and continues through year’s end. “Mass awareness pulls new donors and potential donors to consider the brand but does a great job at driving fundraising as well,” Barr explains.

The integrated campaign is running across TV, online video, print and radio, and is being further amplified on the CAMH and CAMH Foundation’s social channels. Its efforts include a diverse and powerful collection of stories of people with lived addiction experience.

According to Barr, given the importance and intimacy of podcasts, the agency and client felt it was a good time to test that medium, particularly with hosts that are passionate about the mental health and addictions space.

Jungle Media handled the buy.