At the start of October, as the Playoffs got under way, Major League Baseball (MLB) teamed up with the ALS Association to launch a campaign called “Knocking ALS Out Of Park”.
The initiative, developed in harness with agency BBDO NY, aims to further raise awareness of a funds for the search for a cure to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
The ALS Association is an American nonprofit organization that raises money for research and patient services, promotes awareness about and advocates in state and federal government on issues related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
The idea behind the campaign is that for most batters in the sport of baseball, the major goal is to hit a home run – known colloquially across the game as “knocking it out of the park.” While for the ALS Association, the major goal is finding a cure – hence “knocking ALS out of park”.
The campaign centered on a series of billboards and in-store posters – which resemble the outfield wall at Target Field (home of the Minnesota Twins MLB team) – which have numeric measurements on them in a play on the foot measurements printed on the outfield walls of baseball stadiums.
These are also brought o life through a video amplified across the charity and the league’s channels which sets out to encourage fans to get involved by creating their own Home Run Selfie Generator at www.donateALS.org.
Fans can simply snap a picture and, using geo-location technology, their precise distance from home plate at Target Field pops up.
The suggested donation amount matches your distance. Thus, if you are 9,374 feet from home plate, you’re provided with the choice of giving: $9.37, $93.74 or $937.40.
The campaign was created for The ALS Association by a BBDO New York team which included Chief Creative Officer Worldwide David Lubars, Chief Creative Officer New York Greg Hahn, Senior Creative Directors Tom Kraemer and Jens Waernes, Creative Director Mike Boulia, Senior Art Director Shayne Alexander, Designers Ting Peng and Lucas Crespo, Creative (T-Shirts) Peter Alsante, EVP Global Account Director of Operations Linda Epifano, Account Executive Abigail Solano, Brand Strategist Dexter Blumenthal, Interactive Executive Producer Katie Young, Interactive Producer Chava Quinn, Front End Engineer Nick Russo, Backend Engineer Alex Massicott, QA Manager Jimmy McGee and UX Designer Clara SantaMaria Vargas.
Media was handled by Outdoor Media Group.
Comment:
The link between the league and ALS dates back to legendary baseball player Lou Gehrig who raised awareness of a disease that has long been associated with his name and which was largely unknown to the public at the time: he was the face and name of #ALS for decades and the organisation and the MLB paid tribute to the 80th anniversary of Gehrig’s famous farewell speech earlier this year.
While agency BBDO New York became involved with the cause after Creative Director and baseball fan Andy Knipe was diagnosed with ALS in 2000 (Knipe died of the disease in 2005).
Links:
MLB
http://mlb.mlb.com/mobile/atbat
http://mlb.mlb.com/mobile/attheballpark
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fantasy/hr_der
https://www.youtube.com/user/MLB
The ALS Association
BBDO New York
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