Healthy Skepticism Library item: 8813
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
Publication type: news
National Multiple Sclerosis Society and Wieden+Kennedy New York Rally The Nation To Join The Movement
PRNewswire 2007 Mar 5
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-07-2007/0004541757&EDATE=
Full text:
By leveraging companies across America, work is being done to brand a cause and to cause a brand
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is launching on a nationwide integrated marketing initiative to rally people across the country to “Join the Movement” to end multiple sclerosis, the number one neurological disease leading to disability in young adults.
Over the past year, independent global advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy New York has worked pro bono with the MS Society to develop a campaign to totally transform the way MS and the National MS Society is viewed right down to the very color that has been associated with the disease for the past sixty years. The ground-breaking initiative also introduces a new way of talking about MS that focuses on the universal elements of what it means to live with this chronic and unpredictable
disease. The agency has donated over $1 million in time and creative talent.
This campaign has allowed for breakthrough support from a wide variety of other companies – from Clear Channel Communications, to Microsoft, to Westfield Shopping Centres to Developers Diversified, to United Airlines to CNN to Telemundo, to WebMD, and Wiley Publishing who is releasing an MS For Dummies.
“One good act – a powerful message – generates excitement and participation,” said Joyce Nelson, President and CEO, National MS Society. “It helps create critical mass and is the catalyst to launch a movement which has already generated nearly $ 5 million in donated corporate time,
space, and creative services to support our new MS initiative.”
Join the Movement
Beginning with MS Awareness Week, March 5 -11, the “Join the Movement” initiative will launch across the country. This multi-channel integrated campaign will appear on TV, print, out of home and radio properties across the country. All creative elements feature real people living with MS.
“The National MS Society is fueled by people united by a common goal – to address the challenges of each person whose life is affected by MS,” Nelson continued. “We are committed to building a movement by and for people with MS that will move us closer to a world free of multiple
sclerosis.”
To ignite this movement, Wieden+Kennedy New York and the MS Society create a connection and understanding of MS with the public by focusing on the universal truth that movement is inherent to all of our lives. It defines and expresses who we are. But it comes with no guarantees. This
concept shapes the new core message about the disease and purpose of the Society: MS stops people from moving. We exist to make sure it doesn’t.
With this is a new tagline to encourage people to take action: Join the movement.
“Our goal is to help everyone identify with the significance of what it means to live with MS and to forge common ground with the public and inspire them to take action by joining the movement to end MS,” said Buz Sawyer, Managing Director at Wieden+Kennedy New York.
A campaign that moves with you, wherever you go
Amidst the growing outpour of corporate support for the launch of the MS movement, along with Wieden+Kennedy, Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is a major sponsor. During the month of March, Clear Channel will maximize visibility of the campaign through multi-distribution efforts that include outdoor, radio, TV and Internet.
“Through our support of this powerful new awareness campaign, Clear Channel is making its mark to end MS,” said Randall Mays, President and CFO, Clear Channel Communications, Inc. “We look forward to the day when the news broadcasts of Clear Channel stations across the country can report
that a cure for MS has been found.”
The new integrated campaign will appear on a variety of multi-channel outlets. “Essentially, wherever you are and however you experience movement, our new campaign will be there, moving with you towards a world free of MS,” Nelson commented.
Multi-media distribution – PSAs will air on Clear Channel radio and TV, CNN – both cable and airport networks, Lifetime TV, Telemundo, CBS and WOR Radio networks, ads will appear in Sports Illustrated, People, New England Journal of Medicine, and more. WebMD is supporting the Society across its network, which includes web banner and PSA placement, and additional hosting of MS video programming. Print and broadcast PSAs in English and Spanish will also be distributed by the Society to over 1,200 TV stations, 3,000 radio stations and 6,000 print outlets.
Online and viral – Microsoft is supporting the campaign through a new “i’m” initiative: every time you have an IM conversation using Windows Live™ Messenger, Microsoft will donate a portion of its advertising revenue to National MS Society; banner ads will appear on several highly trafficked sites including WebMD’s MS Health Center, About.com, Mensfitness.com, and Oxygen.com.
Direct to consumer – A special mailing to 1 million people with connections to MS will be distributed with support of the Society’s pharmaceutical partners, including Berlex, Biogen Idec, Genentech and EMD Serono/Pfizer, and Novartis to introduce the new brand and encourage action by joining the movement.
Shopping malls – Westfield Shopping Centres, with more than 60 properties in the US, and Developers Diversified, with more than 20 properties, will be placing signage throughout their locations for all of March.
Flying high – During the month of April United Airlines will air the Society’s PSA in its in-flight TV programming, to an estimated audience of between two and four million.
Public can Join the Movement too
To support the launch of the Society’s new brand, people everywhere are encouraged to visit jointhemovement.org – a special website developed by the National MS Society to encourage everyone to join the movement for a world free of MS. Through volunteering, participating in a MS Walk or MS
Bike Ride, donating, and more, people can get involved. The site also features interactive technology that allows all visitors to “make their mark” to end MS – this mark supports the Society’s new logo and makes the statement that we are all committed to ending MS.
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS through our 50 state network of chapters. We fund more MS research, provide more services to people with MS, offer more professional education
and further more advocacy efforts than any other MS organization in the world. The Society is dedicated to achieving a world free of MS. We are people who want to do something about MS now. Join the movement at nationalmssociety.org.
Studies show that early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can reduce future disease activity and improve quality of life for many people with multiple sclerosis. Talk to your health care professional and contact the National MS Society at http://www.nationalmssociety.org or
1-800-344-4867 to learn about ways to help manage multiple sclerosis and about current research that may one day reveal a cure.
About Wieden+Kennedy New York
Based in Manhattan, Wieden+Kennedy New York is a full-service advertising agency with a staff of 125. Wieden+Kennedy New York has produced groundbreaking work for clients including ESPN, Nike NYC, Jordan Brand, The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, ONE.org, the ABC Television Network and Sharp. Globally, Wieden+Kennedy is a privately held agency with over $1,028MM in billings and offices in Portland, New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo and Shanghai. Clients include Coca-Cola/Powerade, Honda, Miller, Nike and Starbucks.
About Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (CCU) is a global media and entertainment company specializing in “gone from home” entertainment and information services for local communities and premiere opportunities for advertisers. Based in San Antonio, Texas, the company’s businesses include
radio, television and outdoor displays. More information is available at http://www.clearchannel.com .
