Special Olympics Northern California Teams Up With Barrett Hofherr to Launch “Do Something Special”
By thelaegotist / /
Special Olympics Northern California (SONC) and full service advertising agency Barrett Hofherr are launching a new awareness campaign demonstrating how Special Olympics brings people together in ways that erase lines of division and isolation. The “Do Something Special” campaign will launch on June 23, in conjunction with the organization’s annual flagship event, the 2023 Summer Games in Santa Clara, Calif.
“Special Olympics NorCal reaches far beyond athletics. The power of our sports program has been a springboard that’s helped fuel other areas: empowering athlete leadership, enabling our role on school campuses to create unified school climates, and educating on inclusive health and mental wellness for people with intellectual disabilities,” said David Solo, President & CEO of Special Olympics Northern California. “Our first major brand campaign helps redefine what it means to be ‘special’ within the Special Olympics movement and is designed to ignite momentum in our larger NorCal community. This campaign captures the joy and spirits of our inspiring athletes while opening the hearts and minds of our audiences to make inclusion a part of their everyday lives.”
The spots address the preconceived notions of what it’s like to live with an intellectual disability and feature real athletes reclaiming the word “special” as a thing of power: “Special isn’t what we are. It’s what we do.”
“The word ‘special’ has become a label that too often marginalizes when it’s meant to celebrate,” said Jamie Barrett, founder of Barrett Hofherr. “This campaign – and more specifically the athletes themselves – seeks to confront that misperception head on.”
Produced by Avocados & Coconuts, the campaign includes a 2 minute long-form video, a :30 second, :15 second, :30 second audio, 4x social videos, and a social content series. Each features actual Special Olympics NorCal athletes front-and-center as a celebration of their hard work, determination, sportsmanship, accomplishments, camaraderie and more. All footage is from sporting events in Northern California with most of the footage captured by athletes during the competitions.
The campaign not only seeks to say “Special is what we do”, it seeks to show it. In that spirit, Special Olympics NorCal is also launching “The Special Report,” a groundbreaking new interview series with professional athletes and icons, hosted by Special Olympics athletes, designed to spark conversations about life on and off the field. The web series will debut alongside the campaign, and the first two episodes feature All-Pro San Francisco 49er George Kittle and JT Marcinkowski, Major League Soccer goalkeeper for the San Jose Earthquakes.
With the support of media agency Ways & Means, the “Do Something Special” campaign will launch with donated broadcast, cinema, streaming audio, digital, OOH and social media throughout Northern California. In-kind media partners include Clear Channel, NBC, CBS, FOX, Volta, Audacy, iHeart, Spotify, ScreenVision, Silicon View, Mesa, OUTFRONT, and Twitter.
As an extension of the campaign, a content hub was created to give the public tools and information on how to engage and volunteer in this inclusive movement. For more information, visit https://www.dosomethingspecial.org.
Credits
CLIENT
Head of Marketing: Jess Daugherty
Marketing Manager: Dana Andrew
Senior Manager, PR & Communications: Tyler Krochmal
AGENCY
Agency: Barrett Hofherr
CCO: Jamie Barrett
ECD: Todd Eisner
Art Director: Michael Simon
Art Director: Daisy Serafini
Copywriter: Liam Berg
Head of Production: Conor Duignan
Senior Producer: Marianne Lawlor
Head of Accounts: Robert Woods
Account Director: Megan Wakeman
Account Manager: Satara Post
Head of Strategy: Amie Chan
Senior Strategist: Kiersten Hazard
Social Strategist: Dora Beilin
PRODUCTION
Production Company: Avocados & Coconuts
Director: Matt Palmer
Executive Producer: Dalia Burde
Production Coordinator: Gabrielle Occhipinti
Director of Photography: Drew Kass
Post Production Company: Avocados & Coconuts
Editor: Gaby Scott
Post Producer: Jessica Kenney
Music Company: Heavy Duty
Sound Design & Mix: M Squared
Sound Engineer: Hayley Kay
Sound Engineer: Mark Pitchford
Color Company: Legion
Colorist: Xander Schwab
Business Affairs: Tricia Krasneski
MEDIA:
Media Agency: Ways & Means
Founders: Karen Halstead and Diana Bormuth
Associate Media Director: Paige Weber
In Kind Media Channel Partners
Clear Channel, NBC, CBS, FOX, Volta, Audacy, iHeart, Spotify, ScreenVision, Silicon View, Mesa, OUTFRONT, and Twitter.
RESEARCH PARTNERS:
Research Agency: Program 11
Miriam Boey: Partner, Head of Strategy
Adam Rogers: Research Analyst
Comments