Gray Crayon Surprise
ArtsWestchester - Not for profit organization that supports all the arts in Westchester county NY
Issue 24 | October 2012
Agency
Wunderman NY
Creative Team
Group Creative Director/Art Director: Brendan Dowling Associate Creative Director/Copywriter: David Reitman
Production Team
Michael Romanski
Other Credits
Chief Creative Officer: Nick Moore
Date
Summer 2012
Background
Just north of New York City, the not-for-profit organization ArtsWestchester has a simple message for 100 major corporate and private donors: without your continued and increased financial support, the arts may fade away, and all our lives will be the less for it.
Idea
Idea: The CEO of ArtsWestchester sends a high-impact, dimensional mailing to corporate decision-makers, dramatizing what is at stake and why it is imperative to act now. She asks for a direct dialogue via phone call.
Execution: The mailing, delivered by FedEx is a gray box. A very gray box. On the cover is a challenge to imagine an unthinkable future, a world without creativity. Inside, a suggestion of the vast array of media and activities supported by ArtsWestchester, fading to gray. And a colorful crayon box, which seems to be the solution to this monochromatic future. But inside? Surprise! Only gray crayons. The message: unless you act, the future of creativity is at risk.
The call-to-action suggests an intriguing, multi-level partnership and asks for a phone call directly to the CEO of ArtsWestchester. Follow-up calls to non-responders will be made where a personal relationship exists.
Results:
100 packages will be sent out over a period of weeks.