Vanderbilt University

Role: Strategy, Copywriting, Scriptwriting, Directing

Channels: Digital

WINNER: Best in Show Nashville ADDYs 2018 plus 3 GOLDs; 1 District ADDY

The Brief: Every day in the United States, 43 children are diagnosed with some form of cancer, and more than 40,000 children undergo treatment for cancer each year. These children are so much more than a statistic. They're individuals with deep and profound meaning. Vanderbilt University's School of Nursing wanted to capture as many of their stories as possible through a revolutionary research project examining storytelling's effect on cancer treatment. 

They came to us looking for help generating leads for their project. They had none when they came to us and they needed 70 to ensure they could keep the funding for their project. 

We realized quite quickly that we needed to create a social campaign that was simple and shareable. Since our target audience was so small (families facing childhood cancer) word of mouth was everything. We needed a campaign that would generate heat. We couldn't be fake or melodramatic. We needed something that felt real. We found it in a true story. 

The Execution: "This is a perfect script. Don't change a word." That was the client's feedback when I presented my script called "Moving Day." We knew we were on to something. We cast my wife and son in the two key roles and shot it in a few hours at my home in Nashville in Spring of 2017. We released the video exclusively on social during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month with a small social spend behind it. Pretty quickly, it was being shared and watched and loved more than anything I've ever created. By the end of the campaign, we had generated not just leads, but enrolled participants. And Vanderbilt was able to continue their critically important research. 

We got even more attention when the spot won Best in Show at the 2018 AAF-Nashville ADDY Awards. 

I can be cynical and jaded, but this project taught me a lesson I'll never forget: 

Advertising isn't bullshit.