As part of GPY&Rs (now Y&R ANZ) annual philanthropic initiatives, we (the team) invited The Starlight Children's Foundation core Marketing team to talk about current challenges facing the foundation.
THE TASK
Starlight's mission is to brighten the lives of seriously ill children and their families. When a once-bright life becomes dulled by needles, hospital visits and painful treatments, Starlight helps sick kids forget their illness and re-discover the joy of childhood. It's no new news that there's more to treatment than medicine; that's why since 1988, Starlight has partnered with Australian health professionals to develop programs based on positive psychology principles that support the 'total care' of our children and teens. Starlight importantly disrupts the relentless cycle of pain and trauma offering a welcome break so that sick kids can simply be kids.
SO WHAT DID STARLIGHT REALLY NEED?
As is the case with many foundations/charities, fundraising plays a vital part in achieving their mission - this was the premise of our task, to increase funding for Starlight through a campaignable idea.
APPROACH
Hackathons are all about fast turn around, high output collective thinking - brainstorming, testing, collaboration and teamwork; creative development is about generating a space where every idea can get into the world! We broke out into teams diving deep into the brand, its mission, ethos, history, colour palate, tone of voice - a vacuum suction of all things Starlight.
INSIGHT
Starlight has an extraordinary history supported with a breadth of ambassadors, all advocating and contributing towards a brighter and positive environment for sick kids. From well renowned musician Delta Goodrem, to AFL/NRL players and chef’s, these contributing members all share a commonality in that they are able to unite the masses through their professions and entertainment offering.
THE SOLUTION
Turning one of Australia’s most loved social activities, the great Aussie barbecue into a celebratory STAR-BQ. We called all mates, co-workers and community groups who love a good Aussie barbie to make like foodie and ambassador Hayden Quinn (and his young apprentice Maddy!), to host their own StarBQ across April, May or June for Starlight Day! Snagging smiles for sick kids - turning frowns upside down! Hayden Quinn was a perfect ally having grown up to witness the impact of Starlight's program when his sister was seriously ill.
Our output resulted in developing a series of comms from TVCs, print and out of home ads which were shot in Sydney’s Randwick Children’s Hospital Starlight Express Room and rolled out across the nation. For more information about the tremendous work Starlight are doing, check out: https://starlight.org.au/