For the third year running, GRADIENT collaborated with Coyne PR and CeraVe to acknowledge the daily indispensable contributions made by nurses. This year CeraVe partnered with The DAISY Foundation, a nonprofit committed to recognizing extraordinary nurses for the compassionate contributions they make every day going above and beyond expectations in science and sensitivity. Families around the world submitted nominations for the DAISY Award to recognize nurses for the often unrecognized differences they make in their patients’ lives.
Out of thousands of nominations, the Vento family story was selected to create a powerful digital campaign. In the piece, Maria, one of the parents of patient Sofia, emotionally recounts the unwavering dedication of nurses Gabi and Kat in helping her family navigate their most challenging moments.
The campaign aimed to raise awareness about the invaluable work of nurses and encourage the public to express their gratitude towards these healthcare heroes through programs at The DAISY Foundation. The principal metric to be monitored was reach and engagement on social media.
The initial campaign treatment idea for this partnership showcased real DAISY Honorees and patient stories through the use of reenactments that were authentic and emotionally evocative. The messaging aimed to demonstrate why nurses deserved to be thanked not only as a “shoulder to cry on” but also for their clinical expertise. To lean more into the authenticity of recognizing real life nurses making real life impact in patient lives, the team then shifted from the initial idea of reenactments to real patients and nurses recounting the nomination stories sent into the DAISY Foundation.
This presented the first challenge combing through thousands of DAISY Award nominations to find candidates that were located in the designated filming area (New York City) and available during the filming dates. Once the Vento family was selected, we began pre-production - scouting shoot locations, preparing the onsite team, and sourcing equipment and props. During the scheduling process, the opportunity presented itself where both the nurse honorees and the patient family were available at the same time. Our rockstar creative team made another slight pivot and turned the interviews, originally scheduled as separate shoots, into a surprise on-camera reunion!
Once the locations were set and the props secured, our teams were ready for the shoot day! As a result of our thorough pre-production planning, we were ready for several challenges we knew might arise. We worked with the studio owner to sneak in the two nurses Gabi and Kat through a side entrance to facilitate an on-camera surprise reunion while Maria, the patient’s mother, was recording her interview. We were able to schedule call times so that Maria would be prepped and already recording while the nurses arrived and quietly got camera-ready in hair and makeup. Sofia, the three year old patient, has faced many medical challenges since birth and at the time traveled with a significant amount of medical machinery. Our production team worked with both venues to ensure that they were handicap accessible and had the appropriate power requirements for the equipment. One of the most unpredictable challenges for our team was working with non-actors in an unfamiliar studio setting, in front of a camera, about an emotional topic. Our entire team, especially our director, was extremely patient, encouraging, and clear so that Maria, Gabi, and Kat felt at ease during their recording process. It is important to note that the surprise reunion captured on camera is authentic and not a staged reenactment. This speaks to CeraVe and The DAISY Foundation’s missions of honoring and recognizing real people and bringing those real stories to their audiences.
All recording was shot in two days across two locations. During post-production our producers, director, editor, and motion designer developed a moving and visually stunning piece that weaved a beautiful years-long story into a few minutes. The piece achieved the goal of demonstrating the significance of nurses to patient care as well as the value in recognizing nurses that go above and beyond in both compassion and medical expertise!
The campaign was a success! The goal of the campaign was to raise awareness on social media and our metrics show just that! On Instagram, the campaign video reached 1.1 million, garnered 85.5k views and had 1,673 engagements. On YouTube, the video reached 28k, with 2.8k views, and 48 engagements. On LinkedIn, the post received 201 engagements.
