2024 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

The YWCA of Metro Vancouver is working tirelessly towards a future that is free from gender-based violence. In addition to providing support for women and pushing for justice system changes, the organization also challenges the silence around violence by confronting harmful attitudes and outdated social norms.

When people think of concussions, they think of sports. Thanks to years of media attention, incredible action has been taken in sports, including new protocols, equipment, lawsuits, funding, mental health support, and more. But for every concussion that occurs in the NHL, over 7,000 Canadian women suffer concussions by an intimate partner. And these intimate partner concussions are one of the most unknown, unreported and underreported causes of concussion, but they still result in the same devastating, long-term effects.

They created a PSA called “Concussion Story” to wake Canadians up to the prevalence of brain injury from domestic violence, and its long-term impacts. They knew they needed to approach a hockey legend to extend the reach of this story beyond the space of womens’ issues. For the public service announcement, they partnered with hockey legend Trevor Linden who has seen firsthand through 19 NHL seasons how impactful a concussion can be.

In the video, he recounts a story of the terrible impact of a blow to the head: not seeing it coming, being confused, and the ongoing debilitating headaches and mood swings that come with the injury. Then, a misdirect reveals that the story he told was actually a woman’s story as a result of intimate partner violence (IPV).

But it wasn’t just a video — it was a concerted PR effort that sparked public debate and encouraged thousands of people to speak up. They used a holistic approach to launch the video starting with Linden and complemented by the YWCA of Metro Vancouver, numerous YWCA organizations across the country, and partners like SOAR Project (Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research) and The Cridge Centre for the Family.

A news release and widespread media pitching, with a focus on news and sports media, contributed to the huge reach. To help prepare for interviews, they also created a key message and FAQ documents for all four spokespeople, including Linden, Lisa Rupert, Vice-President, Housing Services at YWCA Metro Vancouver; Shaoli Choudhury, Manager, Transition Houses at YWCA Metro Vancouver; and, Dr. Paul van Donkelaar, co-founder and scientific advisor for SOAR Project.

These unseen and unreported concussions were being discussed across the country by sports personalities who wouldn’t usually talk about domestic violence, extending beyond their typical audience. The campaign achieved over 71M earned impressions, a media value of over $614,000 and a 7,575% ROI.

As of June 8, Linden was featured in 12 interviews that covered the campaign across TV and radio on broadcast and online — and he was even featured on Sportsnet’s Going Deep with Donnovan Bennett podcast — and the campaign stayed in the news for 18 straight days. Concussion Story was covered on Global News, calling the PSA “devastatingly impactful”, CBC, CTV, and more.

It was talked about by Canada’s most trusted sports personalities, like Kevin Bieksa, host of Hockey Night in Canada, Tara Slone, co-host of Rogers Hometown Hockey, and NBC Sports anchor, and Sarah Spain, ESPN reporter.

Hockey fans were impacted by the campaign too, with one Redditor commenting: “Here I was thinking, ‘I had no idea Linden had concussion issues, good for him for addressing it’, and then he took it to a whole other level.”

And to keep this important conversation going and make a meaningful difference, The GIST — a women-led, inclusive sports media brand — stepped up with a follow-up initiative. During the NHL Stanley Cup Finals where aggressive gameplay leads to a greater risk of concussions, The GIST made a commitment to turn every hit on the ice into a donation to YWCA to help prevent concussions off the ice.

Best of all, they caught the attention of British Columbia’s Lieutenant Governor, Janet Austin, who stepped up to commit future funding for more research, better pathways for concussion treatment and affordable transitional housing. She also confirmed the BC government is actively working on their action plan to help end gender-based violence.

Credits

Chief Creative Officer: Aaron Starkman, Mike Dubrick
Chief Strategy Officer: Sean McDonald
Executive Creative Director: Leia Rogers, Morgan Tierney, Hans Thiessen
Group Creative Director: Sean O’Connor
Art Director, Creative Director: Pamela Rounis
Art Director: Abrie Miller
Writer: Emily Betteridge
Strategist: Anna Shkuratoff
Producers: Kerry Bhangu, Gurbir Grewal, Sarah Lee, Scott Russell,
Jill McLeod, Damian Mccallion
Director of Post Production: Megan O’Connor
Post Production House: R+D Productions
Audio: Wave Productions
Editor: Nick Greaves
Online: R&D
Colour: Adam Kemp
Director: Lindsay Siu
DOP: Dan Barham
Head of PR: Meredith Montgomery
PR Manager: Chenda McKissick
Group Account Director: Kennedy Crawford
Account Supervisor: Nicole Kerrigan
Account Manager: Karin Torn

Client:
Amy Juschka, Director, Advocacy and Communications
Marina Arnaud, Marketing Communications Manager
Saphiya Zerrouk, Marketing Communications Specialist
Fulvia Carregan, Marketing Communications Specialist