Objectives

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is a nearly 70+ year old organization and the global leader in the fight against blood cancer. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides information and support services for blood cancer patients.

LLS has raised money for their critical research through events. Many of those events have become famous in their own right such as “Light the Night.” However in 2020, due to COVID, event-based programs were no longer an option. The LLS team had to reimagine how to market and encourage participation for their upcoming event, the Big Climb - a coordinated race to the top of the world famous SalesForce Tower in San Francisco: 1,762 steps, 61 flights.

The LLS team evolved the physical event into a digital event. The idea of the “Big Virtual Climb” was born and LLS enlisted new partners to bring the idea to life and achieve the fundraising goals.

Strategy and Execution

The LLS team reimagined how to market and highlight participation in the event by adding a digital content partnership strategy. LLS for the first time ever decided to include TikTok, given the platform’s meteoric rise during COVID quarantine. To activate on TikTok LLS enlisted Collab. Collab had quickly become one of the top companies working with brands to develop programs that unlock the potential of TikTok. 

The idea of the “Big Virtual Climb” was to re-imagined the event so anyone could participate. On TikTok the goal was to drive awareness of the program and inspire participation. 

Collab identified and recruited a group of TikTok Creators that would be enthusiastic about the event and would get the word out in a way that TikTok audiences would love. This was critical given it was LLS’ first program on the platform. Each creator made a TikTok showcasing their own Big Virtual Climbs and encouraging their followers to participate and donate. 

Select TikTok content includes: 

• Ashley Tisdale. Celebrity, former Disney star and now TikTok star. Her grandmother is a Cancer survivor so this was a cause close to her heart. In her video, Ashley filmed herself working hard to run up 1,762 steps. 

• The McFarlands. One of the most recognized TikTok Creator families. They have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, VOX and on CNN. The McFarlands brought their own loved family dynamic to the challenge running up “the hilliest college campus they could think of” to get their 1,762 steps in.

Results

• To start, the Big Virtual Climb successfully achieved its fundraising goals; an achievement in any year but especially in 2020 when live events were cancelled and plans had to be quickly changed.
• The digital initiatives delivered millions of views driving awareness for LLS.
• Almost half of the participants of Big Virtual Climb were new to LLS. The digital platforms had not only helped achieve the overall goal, but had introduced new audiences to LLS.
• LLS’s fundraising campaigns including Big Virtual Climb, have helped support groundbreaking blood cancer research. Most recently, LLS launched its first clinical trial specifically for blood cancer patients with COVID-19.
• Finally, based on the success of the program, the LLS team is already in the process of planning their next digital program with Collab.

Media