Starlight Canada had little awareness amongst the general public and it was routinely confused with ‘Make a Wish’. The foundation wanted to grow its fundraising efforts to provide support to a larger number of children and their families, but its small staff and board members knew this objective could not be accomplished without the assistance of a branding strategist.

Q&B interviewed board members, staff and Starlight families to gain the valuable insights required to create a meaningful brand and brand personality. In addition to the interviewing process, sessions were also held with core audience members – women 35-54 with children.

The key insights uncovered during the research process were that although Starlight children and their families struggle through the difficulties of illness, Starlight still helps them experience ‘joy’ and while reality is often unbearably painful, Starlight provides an escape, for even a brief moment.

Quiller and Blake recommended changing the term ‘Distractive Therapy’ to ‘Smile Therapy’ to help make a more meaningful connection with all audiences and to help more appropriately convey the brand’s personality. A more professional visual identity was created to help attract the attention of C-suite executives and positive and uplifting messaging was developed to inspire and motivate potential sponsors from every audience sector.

Once the new brand personality, visual identity and messaging were defined, anyone who touched the brand understood how the brand should be represented to all audiences, including the general public, corporate Canada and the healthcare community. Q&B developed a new website, print advertising, radio spots, gala invitations and fundraising collateral. As a result of the branding initiative, staff members better understood the brand message that should be conveyed to potential donors, gala attendance increased and new donor opportunities were prospected and brought to fruition.