Do you remember these little boxes? For many people who grew up in Canada, these Unicef fundraising boxes were synonymous with Halloween and trick-or-treating back in elementary school. It's been a really long time since I've taken to the streets on October 31st in search of sweets but thinking about it a little while ago, I realized that it had also been quite a while since I had seen or heard of the Unicef boxes too.

Now, not that I have anything personally invested in the little orange box, but it still felt like a little piece of me died inside when I found out that Unicef Canada had stopped running the program. According to this article on CBC.ca, the decision to end the campaign
was made back in 2006, siting the "labour-intensive" act of coin-rolling not being worth what was raised as being one of the main reasons behind the move. While the program continues in the US, Unicef Canada has moved to implementing a more standard fundraising initiative aimed at educating students about world poverty and education issues and encouraging them to develop their own programs to help.

I reflected back to my trick-or-treating days and found myself remembering how none of us really knew why we were collecting change at Halloween or what Unicef was. I recall education on the subject being slim but at the same time we all knew the change was going to a good cause, helping other kids, and I think we all felt a bit of pride in playing our part no matter how small.

That having been said, I'd be interested to learn more about the general reaction to Unicef abruptly halting a program that had been in existence for 50 years. The reason seems rather trivial for the most part and as we've seen time and time again, people get very emotional when tradition is threatened. For that matter, I wonder if the move has affected their brand recognition now, seeing as the name isn't getting the same face-time (even if it was only one day a year).

From a socially conscious point-of-view, I appreciate the effort to increase awareness among students about the issues and the significance behind the money they raise. According to the CBC article, Unifec Canada managed to raise $3 million every Halloween for 15 years through the campaign before it was stopped. I'm curious to see what their new program is bringing in and if they're finding it was worth the re-branding efforts.

Me to We Day: part 2

Better late than never, right?

So if you didn't already check out the coverage, the second annual National Me to We Day was a major success. Student attendance was up from 7500 to 8000, packing Toronto's Ricoh Coliseum for a day of motivation and inspiration.

A lot of what made last years event such a success remained the same: the show was hosted again by by Ben Mulroney, featured return speakers such as MTV's Jessi Cruickshank, the cast of Degrassi the Next Generation and former child soldier Michel Chikwanine and was filled with a variety of live musical talent (including the newest Canadian Idol winner). In fact, in a lot of ways, the event was structured pretty much the same way as the first event (even from a two-time volunteer's perspective, the experience was very similar). There were a lot of new acts and speakers and the focus was very much on the impact that was made by youth who became a part of the Me to We movement through the first event.

While the event has clearly proven to be successful two years running, good PR tells us that where large scale events are concerned, you need to shake things up to keep people coming back for more. So what does Free the Children have in mind for next year? They're thinking big: Air Canada Centre big. 14 000 students are expected to fill the new venue next year along with thousands more in Vacouver for a sister Me to We Day on the western coast, truly making it a national event.

What else did we see from the Public Relations Perspective?
The Toronto Star ran yet another special the day of covering not only the event, but various Free the Children initiatives and practices for the globally aware (you can watch a video on the event on the link). The event was also broadcasted as a special this past weekend on CTV.

Free the Children used Me to We Day used the event as an opporunity to kick off their 100 School Challenge, ensuring a large audience for this glamourous launch. They have also turned the Me to We philosophy into a fresh and full out movement, revamping the Me to We website in a way that keeps all related info centralized and providing all youth involved connected. In keeping the inside onside, they also recognized the value of their volunteers as opinion leaders and provided each with a copy of the bestselling book on which the social philosophy is based.

So it's pretty safe to say (and I feel like I probably should) that I'm defintely biased here. Still, when you sit back and take it all in, you need to give them credit. Once again, National Me to We day has proven itself as a phenomenal example of large-scale, event-style PR in the non-profit world! Kudos!

Me to We Day: part 1

This Friday is a big day for the Toronto-based children's rights organization Free the Children. After the incredible success of the first ever National Me to We Day in 2007, they've decided to do it again and will be playing host to over 7500 youth for a day of inspiration and motivation.

Free the Children is a non-profit organization that aims to help the world's children on both a local and global level. What we see with Me to We Day is both a method of working with local children to encourage global citizenry, but the large scale of the event also draws public attention to the organization and what it does.

Me to we Day is a great example of various arms of public relations coming together to create one excellent event. Taking a closer look at the day itself we can see the utilization of various PR skills such as event planning, fundraising, media relations and third party endorsement to name a few. Staff from both Free the Children and a sister organization called Leaders Today work tirelessly with hundred of volunteers to put on the day-long event. In getting the word out, organizers have made use of their relationship with newspaper,The Toronto Star (Free the Children founding brothers, Craig and Marc Kielburger publish weekly articles in the paper on global issues). Last year the paper dedicated an entire section to the event! Along with a variety of relevant and motivation speakers, other guest of interest to the target audience such as MTV personalities and musical guests appear on stage.

Yours truly will be attending Me to We Day as a volunteer tomorrow. Check back in the days to follow for an evaluation of this years event!

The Purple Ribbon Campaign gets loud in Belleville

Across Ontario, October stands as Child Abuse Prevention Awareness month. Spearheaded by children's aid societies throughout the province, the campaign is marked by supporters wearing purple ribbons and spreading the facts about child abuse.

This year, the campaign's theme is "Kids shouldn't have to live with abuse" and encourages everyone to take responsibility for protecting children in their community. Kicking off the month, the Hastings Children's Aid Society (HCAS) held the 1st Annual Use Your Voice Challenge - an excellent example of public relations in the non-profit sector to create awareness for a good cause.

The event managed to creatively highlight two key components of the overall campaign: community involvement and the need for people to speak up. The message at the heart of the campign is that in order to help children, people need to learn to recognize the signs of abuse and report it. So what better way to get the community ready to do its part than to have them practice using their vocal chords, right?

The challenge was simple: Use your voice to relay the message that October is Child Abuse Prevention Month as loud as you could. The competition was both relevant and effective. A number of people gathered to compete outside of Belleville's Quinte Mall (a hub for activity in the city), including several local celebrities such as Belleville's town crier, Bruce Bedell and radio personality Scotty LaLonde from Rock 107 (winning in the end with a yell that topped at 110 decibles).

Not only was the event a huge success, it was also brilliantly orchastrated in almost every way. The emphasis on community involvement was big - prominent members from entertainment to politics took part, the location was a familiar local hotspot, other local organizations such as the Helix Hearing Care Centre helped out and even the key note speaker was from the community - a former HCAS youth. The event was creative but also simple. Not much was asked of the community other than to be there, listen and/or yell and, most importantly, to spread the message.

With this event, getting attention was paramount. Not only were those who attended able to take the message back with them, but the story was also covered on local radio stations and in newspapers (The event made it into the Belleville Intelligencer not once, but three seperate times).

A simple event that highlighted an important issue and stayed relevant to its audience - this is one campaign with some note-worthy PR behind it!

If you would like some more information on the event (including media releases and a message from the Board Chair), please check out the Hastings Children's Aid Society website.

If you want to know more about the Purple Ribbon Campaign this year, head over to Use Your Voice and spread the word!

"Dogs Rule"

Did you know that October is Adopt-A-Dog month? To get into the spirit, I thought I'd kick things off here by taking a look at an appropriately themed case of cause-related marketing.

According to its website, Pedigree brand dog food "feeds more dogs around the world than any other". Along with its commitment to providing all-life stages nutrition to our canine companions, the brand has also chosen to align itself with shelters across North America in order to help dogs through the Pedigree Adoption Drive and Foundation (note: the campaign is being run in both Canada and the USA, but all of the links in this entry will be to the Canadian websites. You can check out the American site here).

In partnering itself with shelters across Canada and the USA, Pedigree is hoping to increase awareness about the thousands of dogs in need of loving homes and to provide financial support to its partner organizations. What it asks of its consumers is simple - "help us help dogs". The drive itself is three-fold:
1) Pedigree is encouraging people to adopt their next pet from a shelter. On their website they provide information on the adoption process and incentives for those who adopt through one of their partner shelters. They are also encouraging those who cannot adopt to volunteer their time at a local shelter.
2) They have set up a registered foundation through which people can make a tax-deductible donation to help shelters and rescue organizations. The goal for 2008 is to raise over $1 million.
3) Pedigree is pledging to donate a portion of each purchase of their dog food (up to $150 000 Canadian) throughout the year to its partners.



The TV spots tug at the heartstrings, tapping in on the heavy emotional response anticipated from Pedigree's target audience. Aside from its heart wrenching commercials, the brand has chosen to pair itself with a cause that is not only obviously tied to its product, but also to one that should already resonate with its consumers. Along for the ride as 3rd party endorsers are NASCAR driver Kyle Busch (he drives the Pedigree sponsored car) and ice skater Kurt Browning (who claims to not only love dogs, but that one taught him how to skate). The campaign website is also interactive, allowing pet owners to share their stories with the world.

While a few aspects may leave you scratching your head (putting a cap on the amount that will be donated from product sales for example, or the perhaps debatable choice of 3rd party endorsement), the campaign is overall an excellent example of PR in action. The company stays focused and ties its brand to a cause in a way that is not only obvious, but meaningful both in essence and to its target audience.