"When there's help, there's hope": DDB Needham creates new ad campaign. (Leukemia Society's public service advertising)

In the United States, seven of 10 households contribute to charities. DDB Needham, the Society's new volunteer advertising agency, knew the Society needed a public service campaign that would distinguish it from other health groups and set it apart in the public's mind.

Focus-group research told the agency's creative team that the Society's new PSA campaign had to clearly communicate the need for continued research funding, and to compel the audience to want to do something about it. Visits to hospitals and research facilities and interviews with doctors and scientists confirmed that progress against leukemia and related diseases is primarily produced through research funded by the Society.

But all these visits and interviews didn't tell them how to convey the message. For that, they relied on personal experience. Ken Shuldman and Michelle Farnum, DDB Needham writers, have both had loved ones battle cancer. "Both Michelle and I know how it feels when a doctor tells you those awful words..." said Shuldman, "...that someone you love has a life-threatening disease. We thought that would be a powerful way to begin a commercial."

Together with producer Steve Amato and director Peter Smillee, the creative team developed a compelling series of images that depict what a young mother might experience upon learning that her young daughter has leukemia. The combination of stark photography and a haunting sound track make the TV spot arresting. Viewers are drawn into the mother's world, where they feel her anguish, and also her hope--because thanks to research ...