• by Larissa Faw , October 20, 2016

SOS Children’s Villages is launching an integrated marketing effort that includes its first ever public service announcement (PSA) in the U.S. in order to raise awareness for  the international organization that finds families for orphaned, abandoned, and other vulnerable children in 134 countries worldwide. 

The PSA, designed and produced in partnership with New York-based Girardville Miners’ Cooperative, and production company Bodega, emphasizes the need to support orphaned and abandoned children, as well as the important role of family on the lives of children. 

The PSA will air across a number of networks during the fall season through support from the Midas Exchange, GroupM's media bartering unit. The effort led by Midas' Erin Keating, managing partner, and Tom Dempsey chief investment officer, has brought in the support of major networks. 

This PSA will run in tandem with an out-of-home (OOH) advertising and digital campaign by WPP's Kinetic and the following vendors: Adspace Mall Networks, Captivate, Clear Channel OutdoorAmericas, Creative Mobile Media Taxi TV, Gas Station TV, Lamar Advertising Company, OUTFRONT Media, and New Tradition Media.

The OOH campaign appears in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles and New York. 

"We couldn't have executed this valuable campaign without the passion and dedication of our vendor partners," stated David Krupp, CEO of Kinetic USA. "In addition I want to thank the Kinetic team who took their expertise on managing brand marketing campaigns to give back and do something meaningful for families and children around the world.”  

Services provided for the marketing effort were primarily pro bono with a small amount paid for by SOS itself. The organization supports children and families in two main ways: through their more than 570 villages across the world that provide children with family members and a supportive community, as well as through their family strengthening programs that help rebuild struggling families so they can stay together and thrive.