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Through primary research, we found that many parents describe illness as a dark cloud descending on their family; elusive, indiscriminate, and terrifying. And if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that this dark cloud of illness can descend upon any of us at any time, without warning. It can take hold of our daily lives, push us to our limits and change us forever. This insight led to the “Be a Light” campaign, which dramatized the epic and eternal good vs. evil conflict by manifesting childhood illness as darkness - an invasive force that threatens us all. SickKids (doctors, researchers, patients, parents) was positioned as the brilliant, hopeful light that beats it back, but most importantly, it called on everyone to become a source of light; to join us as a monthly donor now to help build the new SickKids, and play a part in defeating the darkness of childhood illness. The campaign played out through mass awareness tactics such as OOH and film (including being the first ad to play in cinemas when the lights went down), consideration tactics such as print and social, and conversion tactics like digital, 1:1, and social. We also made the campaign hyper-relevant for the communities of Kawartha Lakes, the hometown of one of our hero patient ambassadors through radio, OOH, in-mall booths and door to door canvassers.