We are excited to again be working with Catholic Charities of Buffalo. This year, we collaborated with Charities in the development of a branding campaign that would also support the organization’s main public fundraising effort – Appeal 2021. Our team was challenged to come up with a campaign and messaging that would let people know that Catholic Charities is more than the Appeal.
We found inspiration in the Catholic Charities positioning statement HOPE for all seasons which has been in use since the late 1990s and is still very relevant and differentiating for the brand. The positioning has been underutilized in recent years as the Appeal theme has taken on greater prominence in the public awareness campaigns. The high level of awareness for the Catholic Charities brand provided a strong foundation upon which to build understanding for Charities.
The brand strategy for 2021 promotes the Catholic Charities brand using HOPE for all seasons as the main message in the months leading into the Appeal 2021 campaign – in effect preparing the target audience for the Appeal call to action. Beginning December 2020, the creative built awareness and understanding for the brand by highlighting the impact Catholic Charities has in the community. Compelling advertising in television, digital, print and radio illustrated what Catholic Charities does.
Using real clients would have been ideal and lend authenticity and effectiveness to the message. Unfortunately, with the restrictions and limitations from COVID protocols, we were not able to use actual clients.
The brand messaging, designed to build awareness and understanding for Catholic Charities, also makes the case that Catholic Charities is worthy of support. The Appeal 2021 messaging focuses a strong, straight-forward call to action asking the audience to Please support Appeal 2021.
With a goal of raising $10 million through Appeal 2021, our media strategy required a multi-channel effort that increased the share of voice for Catholic Charities across a longer period of time The branding campaign began in December 2020 and continues into mid-February 2021 when the Appeal messaging begins. Appeal messaging and call to action continues through May 30, 2021.
Below are some examples of the creative for the 2021 campaign.