FleishmanHillard’s Toronto office is promising to come up with solutions in 24 hours for not-for-profits that are seeking communications help.
It’s participating in CreateAthon on Oct. 15, an annual 24-hour event in which shops lock themselves in their offices and provide advertising, public relations, marketing and communications help to non-profit organizations.
The idea is “to give back to our community and give back to organizations that don’t have access to a firm like us, and don’t have the budgets or the people to execute on these types of things,” says Angela Carmichael, general manager of the Toronto office of FleishmanHillard.
FleishmanHillard hopes to take on three to five clients for the event – depending on the number of employees who volunteer — and is looking for non-profits in healthcare, children and youth, environment and the arts. “We’re very open to any not-for-profits that are looking for help,” Carmichael says.
It’s the second time the agency has participated in CreateAthon. Two years ago, the firm did a rebrand and prepared a social and marketing strategy for the Kidney Foundation of Canada and created general communications materials for a suicide hotline and a food bank, among other activities.
The event serves as a team-building exercise that is fun despite the time pressures, Carmichael says. “You’re able to test your creative and strategic juices and come up with really meaningful campaigns in a short period of time. Organizations are able to walk away with tangible products that they can execute and take to market.”
Participating non-profits provide a brief before the event begins and there’s an opportunity to ask them a few questions, before the teams ascertain their objectives and start jumping into ideas. “Then the next day with no sleep — maybe a few stolen naps here and there — we go back to the clients.”
FleishmanHillard does other pro bono work during the year for the Toronto Arts Foundation, The 519 (which advocates for the inclusion of LGBTQ communities) and Canadian Federation of Humane Societies.
Carmichael notes the agency is very different than it was two years ago and is not just a PR shop, with creative services, research, digital and media buyers. “It’s going to be a great way for us to showcase some of the new things that we’re doing and the people that work for us.”
According to CreateAthon, the 24 hour model helps eliminate the distractions that occur in the day-to-day work environment and provide the ability to fully focus on a project from start to finish.
Since 2002, more than 85 agencies have given their advertising, marketing and communications muscles an intense workout through CreateAthon events.
To date, CreateAthon has helped more than 1,600 non-profit organizations in the U.S., Canada and U.K. by delivering about 3,500 pro bono marketing projects with a market value of U.S. $16.7 million.
