Orbis

A Christmas story of eye care everywhere

Brief

Launch ‘eye care everywhere’, the new brand proposition from Orbis, in an urgent and uplifting Christmas matched-funding direct mail appeal.

Challenge

We had a lot to pack in. The new proposition, an unrestricted appeal focusing on three countries, the ongoing urgent message around avoidable blindness, and a fresh way to communicate Christmas at this high-performing time of year for public giving.

Solution

We reframed the brand proposition as a Christmas wish, reflecting the scope of Orbis’s ambition and the real impact that supporters’ donations could make for people with avoidable eye conditions.

Visually, we focused on hopeful, inclusive, respectful photography, dialling up emotional cues of reflection, empathy and optimism. We also developed a bauble graphic to carry the ‘your donations worth double’ message throughout the pack.

For the reminder mailer, we stripped the visual look and feel right back to convey an urgent, no-time-to-lose impression, with the simple copy line ‘It’s not too late’.

Result

Despite mass staff shortages at Royal Mail due to a Covid outbreak, the main appeal only just fell short of its revenue goal. And the reminder more than made up for it, exceeding the target by more than 40%.

The generous matched funding donor was so pleased they donated an extra £100k!