Sharing hope in the fight against blood disorders.

Client: The Sunflower Fund
Country: South Africa
Project: The Conquerors Awareness Campaign
Project Scope
Campaign Development
Content Writing
Video Production
Photography
Campaign Development  /  Content Writing  /  Video Production  /  Photography
Challenge
Spread a message of hope and inspire people to register as donors in the fight against leukaemia.
Solution
A video and social media campaign featuring real patients with real stories – sharing the strength of every survivor, family member, and volunteer - calling on the support of the public.
Result
The Sunflower Fund cut through the noise with a positive campaign that shared hope and optimism – increasing their support-base and inspiring real commitment from their community.
Photo of Traci Sassenberg of The Sunflower Fund
We loved working with Pigeon Pie, they were like an extension of our own team! An exceptional creative firm with the gift of story-telling that resonated with our audience. Like our CEO Alana said, we've been trying to get this message right for so long, and with Pigeon Pie, we’ve finally nailed it!
Traci Sassenberg, The Sunflower Fund
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Blood Stem Cell Donor Registration Video - Behind The Scenes - Cancer Survivor on Sports Field in Cape Town
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Behind The Scenes - Young Cancer Patient Holding Sign that reads "Diagnosed with Thalassemia"
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Behind The Scenes - Cancer Patient Mother and Son in Church Reading Bible

Advancing the fight against life-threatening blood disorders.

The Sunflower Fund provides support to patients of life-threatening blood disorders like leukaemia and MDS.
They match patients with bone marrow donors, raise funds for treatment, and actively recruit donors onto the South African Bone Marrow Registry.

To increase the chances of patients finding their unique genetic match, the Sunflower Fund needs to ensure that the donor database is constantly growing.

There’s a one in a million chance of a leukaemia patient finding their match, so the larger the database, the better the patient’s chances of survival. Our individual genetic make-up could literally be someone’s only hope of life.
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - The Sunflower Fund Donor Registrations Banner with Stem Cell Donor Standing Next to it
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - The Sunflower Fund Team Doing Blood Tests with South African Sportsmen

How do we inspire the public to become donors?

Throughout the year, the Sunflower Fund works tirelessly across the country hosting pop-ups and events onboarding new donors.
We were called in to help them develop an awareness campaign to inspire people to register as donors and to acknowledge the community who have already joined the cause.

Our campaign would facilitate their donor drive and enhance their call for support.
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Blood Stem Cell Donor Registration Video - Behind The Scenes - Cancer Patient Father and Daughter

Honouring the strength of every patient and survivor.

The Sunflower Fund found that their audience were responding much better to stories of hope than they were to stories of helplessness.
It was the strength and resilience of patients that inspired their audience to become life-long donors.

Patients weren’t just people in a state of despair, they were capable fighters who have lives, hopes, and families outside of their disease.

They are conquerors – and we needed to celebrate their story.
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Blood Stem Cell Donor Registration Video - Behind The Scenes - Cancer Survivor Enjoying The Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Behind The Scenes - Group Photo with Cancer Patient's Family and Friends
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Behind The Scenes - Cancer Patient Smiling in Church

It was a celebration of hope as much as it was a call to action.

We featured real patients with real stories, and aimed to capture the profound strength of every survivor, family member, and volunteer.
We worked closely with the Sunflower Fund to develop a concept was a celebration of hope, and it was a journey guided by the stories of patients.
Photo of Notebook with Awareness Campaign Storyboard and Script Notes
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Behind The Scenes - Cancer Patient Holding Sign that reads "I Am Hopeful"
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Behind The Scenes - Production Crew from Mad Little Badger and Pigeon Pie Capturing the Scene

Being guided by empathy.

It was important for us to work with a team with shared values and a sensitivity to the subject matter.
We brought on the South African production team, Mad Little Badger, who had experience working with sensitive human stories and have worked with various cause-based organisations in South Africa.

Their editor and art director is a stem-cell donor himself, having helped his brother survive and beat leukaemia. His personal experience brought a special sensitivity to the messaging and treatment of the campaign – guiding our production.

Their sensitive eye was critical to the success of the project.
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Blood Stem Cell Donor Registration Video - Behind The Scenes - Cancer Patient in Playground Having Fun
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Behind The Scenes - Young Child Cooking at Home Expressing Her Creativity
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Behind The Scenes - Photo of Cancer Patient and Their Partner Smiling at Each Other Saying "Thank You"

Cutting through the noise with hope and optimism.

“The Conquerors” became the opening to Sunflower Fund’s gala dinners, a call-to-action at their fundraising events, and a series of stories that their community could engage with on social media.
The campaign became Sunflower Fund’s call to arms. It became a way to honour the people who have supported them and a way to celebrate the potential of hope for every patient.

While other non-profit organisations were bombarding their audiences with sympathy and guilt, this campaign helped the Sunflower Fund cut through the noise with hope and optimism – growing their support-base and inspiring real commitment from their community.
Leukaemia Awareness Campaign - Behind The Scenes - Group Photo with Sunflower Fund, Mad Little Badger, and Pigeon Pie Team
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