Big Brothers Big Sisters America (BBBSA) has launched a new national campaign designed to debunk myths around mentorship and raise awareness of how mentorship is critical to kids succeeding.
The “It Takes Little to be Big” campaign features a PSA, created in partnership with Dentsu Creative and Ghanaian-American creative entrepreneur Joshua Kissi, who has worked with Serena Williams, LeBron James and Ulta Beauty. The spot shows real “Bigs” (mentors) and “Littles” (kids) interacting with authentic moments of mentorship, showing its impact and importance.
“Through the ‘It Takes Little to be Big’ campaign, we partnered with Dentsu Creative to spotlight a powerful truth: small mentorship moments can have profound impact…We wanted to challenge and shift perceptions about the time and expertise required to be a mentor, showing instead how these pivotal interactions seamlessly fit into our daily lives—from sharing a slice of pizza, playing video games or meeting over a cup of coffee,” said Adam Vasallo, CMO, BBBSA in a statement.
According to BBBSA, one-third of children in the U.S. lack a positive adult mentor, and BBBSA has a waitlist of over 30,000 kids. Barriers to becoming a mentor include time constraints and expertise. To address the need, BBBSA aims to engage one million supporters and strategic partners to bridge the gap and highlight inspiring mentorship moments.
To help with engagement and fundraising, Grammy-nominated recording artist Aloe Blacc created an accompanying anthem for the campaign called “Never Let You Down,” inspired by Bigs/Littles match stories. “Never Let You Down” is available for download on all streaming platforms, with a portion of proceeds supporting BBBSA.
BBBSA has also partnered with industry leaders to amplify the campaign and encourage the support of volunteers as well as donors. ClearChannel Outdoor will launch a series of “It Takes Little to Be Big” billboards in key U.S. markets including New York City, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Dallas, while major media platforms iHeart Media, Comcast NBC Universal, and TikTok will provide pro bono support to further PSA and campaign content distribution.
“BBBSA came to us with a very clear goal of attracting one million Bigs, alumni and supporters. There are any number of hurdles we need to overcome to convince potential Bigs and supporters to join the mission, but the number one barrier was time,” said Kurt Fries, evp, executive creative director, Dentsu Creative. That’s where we decided to focus. By simply contextualizing how little time it takes—time we are already spending going to a movie, grabbing a cup of coffee or a slice—to make a big impact not only on the lives of these kids but on the lives of the Bigs, too.”
The media strategy includes TV, radio, online, social and out-of-home, along with embedding a call for support into pop culture events and experiences.
“This isn’t just a campaign, we’re looking to change the narrative and encourage one million BBBS alumni and supporters to join us in transforming mentorship in this country so it’s not just an aspiration, but a reality for every young person,” added Vasallo.