• by Larissa Faw , April 30, 2015

Every 37 minutes, the Make-A-Wish organization grants a wish to a sick child somewhere in the U.S. Yet those dream vacations to Disneyland and visits with Justin Bieber require a lot of airline travel, which is why Marc USA in Pittsburgh launched a multi-faceted campaign to encourage people to donate their airline miles to help these children with life-threatening illnesses. 

Marc USA created an integrated campaign for Give Wishes Wings, including a central website where visitors can learn about the program, see stories from donors, view the social media feeds of those who have engaged with Give Wishes Wings and to donate miles or money to the organization. 

The campaign is supported with print, social, digital and out-of-home media. The social media effort reaches out to Make-A-Wish supporters to make donations and “wish” for friends and family to do the same. A TV PSA is running in local Make-A-Wish markets encourages similar donations. Lastly, World Wish Day on April 29, the campaign hosted several live events to help raise awareness for the program which runs through the end of the month. Organizers note, however, that the group will continue to accept miles on-going.

Already, the effort is deemed successful. Since the campaign launched in early April, Make-A-Wish has seen donated airline miles increase by over 40% in 26 days. Give Wishes Wings has led to donations of over 14 million airline miles – enough to fill the equivalent of two full planes with children getting wishes, say agency executives.

The campaign's creative is designed to feature an image of a young girl with wings that are made up of many different arms instead of feathers. 

“The inspiration for our campaign was the understanding that for every child who is granted his or her wish, there are many individuals who help make that happen,” says Bryan Hadlock, Marc USA Chief Creative Officer “The very striking image of the wings composed of what appears to be hundreds of outstretched arms tells the story in a memorable way.”

“We’ve seen a tremendous outpouring of donations, and our social channels have lit up with donors filming their own videos and sharing their donations of miles to Make-A-Wish,” says Jono Smith, Director of Marketing and Digital Strategy at Make-A-Wish America. “This has been such a successful initiative that we are thinking of ways to activate it on an ongoing basis.”

Marc USA has worked with the group for several years after being drawn to this cause after learning every three out of four of the 14,000 wishes the organization grants each year require airline trips. The Make-A-Wish organization has granted more than 254,000 wishes since its inception in 1980, including more than 14,200 in 2014.