Zibert & Moreno Show Strength in Sickness

Mark Zibert, director

How exactly did the production and pre-production process work – how did you plan for the shoot; how long did you shoot for; and how did you gain access to these often quite intrusive and personal hospital moments?

This project was one we worked on for months. The shoot was eight days in total. Five days were spent at the hospital, two days on location and one day in studio. The process was long from script to production, and it took an insane amount of dedication on every level to make it happen. The typical lines between client, agency and production were shattered as collaboration took hold.  

As we were working with real people, actual doctors, patients and past patients of SickKids, the shoot schedule on this project was very different from other productions. The schedule was continually in flux based on the need of patients and doctors. At one moment everything is good to go, then the next moment a doctor or patient was pulled in for treatment.  The producers and clients deserve massive credit for putting this all together.

Sensitivity was needed when dealing with personal moments. It’s important to work at the pace of the children and parents; their comfort is the number one priority. If they are done with filming, we are done. We were very lucky to have so many families who wanted to be involved in our project. That made finding moments with them easy. Making it fun for them is also a priority, we wanted to create something positive they can look back on.  

What were you inspired by for this project?

The doctors, families and kids were the inspiration. While shooting the previous documentary-style campaign, parents and even the crew would be visibly upset at times, although trying to hide it best they could. Meanwhile, the kids in this year’s campaign were going into operations with game faces that could take down any pro athlete.  

Despite demonstrating the reality of SickKids Hospital’s work, the campaign’s message is empowering and unapologetic yet also sensitive and emotional. Why did you decide that this was the best way to approach the campaign and how did you strike the balance between these two quite different tones?

The creatives on this deserve huge credit for the concept of this spot.  Their insight is next level. A somber emotional tone is an effective approach to communicating the everyday at SickKids, where you can’t help but feel sorry, and rightfully so, for the children and families who deal with the incomprehensible on a daily basis. But spending those weeks and months at the hospital sheds a different light altogether. There exists countless stories of unbounded strength and courage in the face of illness and death. It’s hard to describe it in words.

The film attempts to convey that side of their stories using a combination of metaphor and frenetic pace. Showing their defiance in the face of illness.  The break in the film snaps us back to the realities of SickKids but the ending reinforces the unparalleled spirit and fight.

And what were the biggest challenges in capturing the multifaceted sides of child sickness?

I’d have to say that the biggest challenge is working in the hospital knowing the conditions that some kids are in and that anything can change in a second. The hospital gives children a special “Bravery Bead” each time they have a procedure, to see the number of beads even the youngest child might have is both daunting and awe inspiring.

We’re in this place where children come because they need serious treatment, yet the vibe is incredibly positive and admirable. While we’re filming epic battle scenes with knights and warriors, there are actual kids and families who are dealing with the toughest battles you can imagine, and they deal with them everyday. I recall one child, Hartley, strapping on a back pack to carry his must have IV while he ran his hardest, keeping up with the knights and warriors.  There was no stopping him, he was amazing.

Lori Davison, VP of brand strategy & communications, SickKids  

What was the brief with which you approached Cossette?

SickKids is fighting to solve the greatest challenges in child health.

Most of the work on your YouTube channel focuses on real life stories within the hospital, often individual stories and successes. This approach is much fiercer and has a more creative angle – why did you decide that this approach was right for this particular campaign?

The shift in the platform comes from something we know from our research, which is that we do a really good job of reinforcing what people already think and feel about SickKids, but we haven’t been communicating new information to people or information that has jolted new audiences.  This is an approach that dials up a different aspect of the brand—one that’s always been there—which is the performance side of this hospital as a world leader in solving the greatest challenges in child health. It’s true to the brand, but it’s a dimension that we haven’t focused on in past work.

What effect, if any, do you hope this campaign will have on the hospital or for future charity-led advertising?

Our hope is that we will see a new contingent of donors, specifically younger and also more male, become engaged with the cause of the hospital.  And in fact, early results are indicating success – with a noticeable lift in online donations from both males in general and with consumers 24-44 years.  My hope for the future of charity-led advertising is that we will see work that communicates empathy and respect for those on the front line of these causes.  For me, it’s mostly about the SickKids doctors and staff that we are inviting people to fight alongside.  For me, this advertising would not work nearly as well without that insight.

Carlos Moreno, chief creative officer, Cossette 

Can you explain what it was that SickKids approached you to help with?

While SickKids is one of the best pediatric hospitals in the world, the building itself is aging and in dire need of a massive overhaul to accommodate newer equipment to keep them on the cutting edge. To achieve this, they needed to substantially boost donations. They couldn’t simply rely on the same donor base that had been supporting them for years. 

SickKids needed to jolt people off the sidelines. That required a different approach from past campaigns.  A new brand platform that could not only reach out to newer audiences, but also energize the SickKids brand itself to remind existing donors they were part of a winning team. 

Did they have an idea of what they wanted to do or were you encouraged to bring ideas forward?

The SickKids Foundation brand team definitely wanted something different. They knew they wanted to portray a more winning attitude and showcase the advances they’ve made, rather than focus on their shortcomings and needs. But they didn’t know how to do it. That’s where we came in.