We were right in the middle of planning the campaign for the 2020 CIBC Canadian Cancer Society Run for the Cure when the world went into lockdown. The year before, we helped the Run bring together 85,000 Canadians in 57 communities across the country to raise money for those affected by breast cancer. So, we pivoted this in-person event into a hybrid one that still maintained the feeling of connection that has always given families, friends and supporters the opportunity to join together to honour and celebrate their loved ones.

To let people run together while they were apart, we had every participant build their own personal avatar. With different skin tones, hair styles, body shapes, and accessories, over 432,000 unique avatars could be made! That avatar could then be used to create personal fundraising materials that could be shared across social media. Messaging from the Run itself featured custom illustrations of actual cancer survivors. An all-new bold look and feel was developed to compliment the new event. The campaign surpassed expected donation goals by 17% with $9.4 million raised, and won Gold for Engagement at the Canadian Marketing Association awards.