The Project: Although it had been up and running for four years, Success By 6, the United Way’s initiative for kids aged 0-6, was ready for a full visual makeover in 2006, including brochures, billboards, print ads, a website and a report to the community.

The Challenge: United Way President Bhavana Varma was so impressed with the work that BmDodo had done on the organization’s campaign materials that she invited partners Brian Dodo and Jennifer Cameron to attend a meeting of Success By 6 volunteers to discuss marketing materials for their ongoing campaign.

The Solution: The partners realized that they needed to help the group develop a unified concept that they could apply to all of the project’s components. During the meeting, they noticed that all of the committee’s ideas seemed to feature parents prominently. They suggested changing that approach and adopting a child-centred perspective instead.

“Once they came up with that idea, it just re-vitalized the campaign,” says Varma. “It gave the materials a fresh, invigorated look.”

Using bright colours, child-like drawings and a font inspired by a six-year-old’s handwriting, Brian and Jen created a multi-media campaign that explored the world from a child’s point of view. The volunteers also embraced Brian’s suggestion to play up the idea of encouraging parents to make little things matter by adopting a Making the Moments Matter theme in their written materials.

The Result: In addition to the widely distributed brochure and report, the Success By 6 campaign included a series of eight billboards which rotate monthly around the Kingston area. The partners also created a range of print ads which they sent to all Kingston-area newspapers and magazines to use when space permits. These ads continue to run at least twice weekly.

The colourful Success By 6 website includes an interactive section where parents can share stories about how they make the moments matter. As the section grows in popularity, it will become a valuable resource for parents and caregivers, who can use it to find low-cost, entertaining activities to enjoy with their children.

The Outcome: While fundraising for Success By 6 is ongoing, the project’s success can be measured in the stream of positive feedback from service providers, parents, and committee members. “What impresses me is how they make sure that every client has a different look and feel,” says Varma. “I was worried that they were going to make it look like our other United Way materials, but they really created something unique. They turned our whole campaign around.”

The Success by 6 campaign was recognized by R.G.D. Ontario for a “Design at Work” award.

Deliverables:

Outdoor billboards
Basic flash website
Annual report
Newspaper adverts
Promotional t-shirts