NEW YORK In an effort to intensify its emotional appeal to the general public and gain a firmer foothold in the media that donate space to run PSAs, the Muscular Dystrophy Association is launching a branding push tagged "Helping Jerry's Kids." E.B. Lane in Phoenix fashioned the campaign.
"It's extremely difficult to get PSA placement nowadays, especially on TV," said Bob Mackle, vp, public information at the Tuscon, Ariz.-based MDA.
With that in mind, the organization for the first time in at least 20 years went outside its in-house resources to create ads in an effort to raise the profile of the organization and its message, he said. "We wanted to raise the level of our creative so [the ads] are more enticing for people, so they want to run them," said Mackle.
The ads mark a shift in MDA's communications strategy, especially since the group had no consistent branding message and tended to focus on specific programs rather than the organization itself. In fact, MDA's 230 local offices have created their own ads, using multiple taglines and often disparate visual elements.
"The message was becoming too disjointed," said Mackle. "We had become a mismatch of everything over the years."
With a redesigned logo and a centralized strategy centered on "Helping Jerry's Kids," the organization, best known for its yearly Labor Day telethon hosted by MDA national chairman and comedian Jerry Lewis, is trying to "get back to the emotional level of what we do," said Mackle.
"You'll see very little that will tell you in direct terms that we have clinics or we have support groups or we buy wheelchairs. It's more an emotive thing and tries to hit home. It's about the impact the disease is having on people, the fact that there is hope, and we are doing something about it," he said.
Each spot features a disabled teen or child overcoming his or her disabilities --- or longing to do so.
In one commercial, a young man in a wheelchair stopped at a crosswalk stares at a "Don't Walk" sign while the voiceover explains that MDA is "making bold inroads and gaining greater understanding of muscular dystrophy." As the sign flashes the "Walk" signal, the narration continues: "With enough hope and help, this light will change."
Another spot shows a young girl running backwards until she ends up seated in her wheelchair with the voiceover explaining: "Before they can run, they have to walk. Before they can walk, we have to help." A third ad follows a boy's transformation from traveling in his wheelchair to riding a bike.
The narrator tells viewers that through partnerships with the pharmaceutical and bio-tech industries MDA is making "bold inroads and gaining greater understanding of muscular dystrophy."
"We wanted commercials that were very simple, but conveyed hope and help," said Mark Itkowitz, ecd at E.B. Lane.
The agency also created a new musical score that will be used in the broadcast work and during the telethon and hired a new announcer as part of the rebranding effort. "Classically we are rebuilding the MDA brand and hopefully, to paraphrase Humphrey Bogart, this will be the beginning of a long, beautiful business relationship," Itkowitz said.
Print ads began appearing in national publications in July, and TV spots are expected to run nationally on networks including ABC, CBS, CNN and Fox News beginning this month. The campaign, which will also include radio, outdoor and online media placements, is relying predominately on donated media time for distribution.
According to E.B. Lane, which is working with the organization on a pro-bono basis, the estimated donated media in print publications such as USA Today and People thus far is $6.2 million.
