• by Les Luchter , 6 hours ago

Kids’ birthday celebrations become bittersweet in a campaign designed to raise awareness and fundraising for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

“Most parents celebrate these milestones,” says a mother in a :30 PSA  after videos are shown from several Duchenne child birthday parties. “For us, it’s a reminder that the clock is ticking and I will outlive my child.” 

Then comes the call to action.  “Until there's a cure, every second counts,” says mom, followed by a graphic that reads, “Historically, those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have not lived past their 20s. CureDuchenne is changing that.”

Driving home its message, CureDuchenne points out at the end of a longer version of the video that the spot’s final birthday participant died in May at the age of 23.

There is also a :15 version of the PSA, as well as audio and out-of-home variations.

Created internally by CureDuchenne and distributed pro bono by Horizon Media, the campaign “takes something everyone understands and reframes it in a way that makes the stakes impossible to ignore,” the nonprofit tells Marketing Daily. “We needed a campaign that could reach people who have never heard of Duchenne and move them to act, because we are at a pivotal moment in Duchenne research.”

Duchenne, one of the most common and severe forms of muscular dystrophy, affects some 300,000 people globally.

Launched last week and running through year’s end, Horizon is running the campaign -- titled “A Cure Can’t Wait” -- on broadcast TV, radio, streaming, digital and outdoor media.

“We hope to reach people who may have never heard of Duchenne,” CureDuchenne says, “but have the capacity and the compassion to support research once they understand what is at stake.”

The campaign should “resonate especially strongly with parents,” the nonprofit adds. “Every parent’s worst fear is outliving their child; for parents of children with a fatal genetic disease, that fear isn’t hypothetical, it’s their reality every day.”

Besides the fundraising, the campaign also seeks to expand public awareness of the disease, results of which will be measured by tracking social conversation around Duchenne, the group says.

CureDuchenne will also track reach and impressions across the various media; traffic and engagement on the campaign landing page; donations generated; and earned media coverage.

“Ultimately,” CureDuchenne says, “the most important measure of success is whether this campaign brings new donors and new advocates -- people who did not know this disease before July 8 and who will carry it forward with us."

Over the past two decades, CureDuchenne says it has invested $28 million into innovative science and supported companies responsible for six of the eight FDA-approved therapies to date.  Those therapies include four from Sarepta Therapeutics and one each from Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and PTC Therapeutics.