The Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) will launch its first mass media campaign in 15 years thanks to a dedicated group of agency creatives, strategists and media owners.
CACL is a Toronto-based advocacy and support organization for individuals with intellectual disabilities. The 50-year-old association recently hired Harmony Marketing, whose president, Lea Parrell, is a former VP of marketing for Special Olympics Canada. CACL tasked her with creating a marketing plan that would bring its message of inclusion to the Canadian public.
Despite the organization’s limited finances, Parrell saw a need for a media mix that included television, radio, online and print.
“This is an organization that has very little funding for any kind of marketing,” Parrell said.
Hoping to get a lot for a little, she contacted Dennis Edell, CEO of Partners and Edell, and John Farquhar, founder of Wild Mouse Advertising. The two agencies agreed to develop a campaign pro bono and approached their vendors to contribute to the cause.
The result is a television ad that cost a mere $30,000 to produce and will kick off a national awareness campaign. The TV ad, which finished shooting last weekend, focuses on inclusive education for intellectually disabled children. It will launch Feb. 18 during Inclusive Education Week.
The ad will feature a school-aged girl with Down Syndrome reciting commonly held perceptions of why children like her should not attend public schools: she’s disruptive and takes up too much of the teacher’s time. The serious tone changes when it is revealed she’s using them as excuses to get out of going to school that day. Her skeptical mother chuckles and tells her to get ready anyway.
The National Post will also run an eight-page CACL supplement that week, and print and radio ads will run in donated media space nationwide. Other campaign costs will be offset by donated time by actors, production companies and a donation from General Motors Canada towards a media buy.
Michael Bach, executive vice-president for CACL, says he wants this campaign to last despite limited funds.
“We’re hoping we can excite people on the strength of this campaign to invest in a broader public awareness campaign,” said Bach. “We really want to grab attention. Instead of going with a general awareness campaign right away, we grabbed onto a hot button issue—inclusive education—to challenge the public and try to change minds.”
