SaskEnergy

Share the Warmth

The people of Saskatchewan don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk.

From a vent-sesh about the howlin’ winds, to helping a stranger change a flat in frigid -40, these peeps have each other’s backs. They pride themselves in their desire to take care of each other and give back to their province. These warm feelings are the same reasons we call a “hoodie” a “bunny hug” and also why programs like Share the Warmth exist.

30 Years of Share the Warmth

SaskEnergy began Share the Warmth in 1994 as a sweater recycling program. Now, with 30 years under their belt, it has evolved to providing grants to non-profit organizations that help SK residents over the cold winter months with food, clothing, shelter, and mental health services. Doesn’t that make you feel soft and squishy? It should! We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to enhance the vibe of Share the Warmth to make sure it reflected the same warm fuzzies in the visuals and messaging.

Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork

It became our mission to help SaskEnergy give Share the Warmth an overhaul so those warm and comforting feelings would shine through and help raise awareness for the initiative while driving new and higher amounts of applicants. They wanted the reach of their impact to be far and wide across Saskatchewan. But, teamwork makes the dream work, and we knew we couldn’t do this project justice without help. Thankfully, with the immense generosity of our media partner, Mediology, we were able to provide Share the Warmth with the services necessary to cover media exposure and deliverables like TV, radio, billboard, and more. Our next step? A new creative direction!

Connecting Hearts

To further drive the messaging and to heighten applicant awareness, we needed to find a way to connect with the people of Saskatchewan in a way that evoked emotion, educated, and inspired action. What better way to do this than to share a recipient’s firsthand experience. We decided to shoot an interview with a previous applicant who had been awarded the grant, the Canadian Mental Health Association of Saskatoon. This short video allowed viewers to see the simplicity of applying for the grant and the impact of the grant money. In their narrative, the funds collected from Share the Warmth were used to put together hampers for those in need at Christmas time.

The Revamp

The new creative approach we developed included heartwarming images that pay homage to the sweaters that were distributed in the program’s infancy. Additionally, the new images illustrated the diversity of the people that the program supports. We also created a new Share the Warmth saying: “Creating Close-Knit Communities.” The messaging is a sweet play on words that associates the “close-knit” of wearing a cozy sweater with the warmth of feeling like a part of a community and a larger purpose. The end result? A new brand of Share the Warmth that feels like sipping hot chocolate on a chilly winter evening.