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With the the largest fundraising campaign in Canadian healthcare now in the history books, raising $1.7 billion from over 1.3 million unique donors to build a new hospital. SickKids is now shifting its fundraising attention to the next chapter—a new approach to care called Precision Child Health (PCH). SickKids is now shifting its fundraising attention to the next chapter—a new approach to care called Precision Child Health (PCH). This also means a strategic focus on their SickKids VS brand platform with a refreshed visual identity and approach to reflect this new priority.
“PCH is a game-changer for SickKids. It’s not just one program or initiative—it’s a seismic cultural shift in how SickKids cares for its patients,” says Kate Torrance, Vice President, Head of Brand at SickKids Foundation. “Despite all our incredible progress in healthcare, to the parents of a sick child, the future is scary. While SickKids has been winning the battle against childhood illness, with PCH, we have a new strategy that’s creating a brighter future—not just for every child we treat today, but for our community and healthcare system in the decades to come. For our launch, we knew we needed to leverage SickKids VS’s equity as a performance brand to evolve our tone, separate ourselves from the category, and focus on individual patient stories that have the power to move people to support us.”
Precision Child Health (PCH) is a bit of a game changer when it comes to paediatric care, pushing past the limits of one-size-fits-all medicine to focus more deeply on what makes each patient who they are, looking at everything from their genetic code to their postal code. It then harnesses cutting-edge science, technology, and data analysis for every child in order to give them the best odds of regaining their health. With PCH, SickKids will be able to diagnose faster, treat smarter, and predict better than ever before, even stopping illness before it strikes.
The Heal the Future campaign was a major evolution in the work between SickKids and Cossette where for the first time a global team was assembled. Since the SickKids brand has had an impact not just here in Canada, but all over the world, talent from outside the country were given the opportunity to contribute to such a monumental moment in SickKids history.
Back on September 21, SickKids, with the support of Citizen Relations, marked the arrival of PCH with a larger-than-life crystal ball—a symbol of the promise to heal the future. The crystal ball also honours SickKids patient Addison (Addy) Hill. Addy arrived at SickKids in 2021 with an infectious smile, a wicked sense of humour, and a rare form of cancer that, although aggressive, failed to dim her spirit. During a visit with SickKids oncologist Dr. Malkin, Addy asked a very frank question: Would she live or would she die? Dr. Malkin responded that he didn’t have a crystal ball to predict the future, but that the team at SickKids would do everything possible to save her life. Not long after their first meeting, Addy gave Dr. Malkin a crystal ball. While Addy is no longer with us today, her wish for answers has inspired a new era of individualized care at SickKids.
“Heal the Future is an evolution for the SickKids VS brand and leans into a visual energy and sense of optimism that comes with a hopeful future,” says Anthony Atkinson, Executive Creative Director at Cossette. “It’s the first time we’ve told the story of a child and what it means to live a fulfilling life when an early diagnosis is possible. There’s a quote at SickKids that inspired much of this work: ‘Don’t just heal the child, heal the adult they will become.’ This had us fighting for children’s futures when traditionally, we’ve been focusing on our fight in the present.”
Image Gallery:
Agencies behind the Girls Belong Here campaign?
- Advertising agency - Cossette
- Public Relations agency - Citizen Relations
- Brand - SickKids Foundation
(click on the link to view the agency's Vendor Directory listing)
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