AIDS Action Committee
AIDS Action Committee
From all walks of life
Raising awareness and funds to combat a devastating epidemic
In 1989, at the height of the HIV / AIDS epidemic—with no “cocktail” treatments then in sight—the AIDS Action Committee of Boston was planning its fifth fundraising Walk. Earlier Walks had missed their goals: the organization needed to raise much more money to serve its ever-growing client roster, encourage research, and importantly, raise awareness around a then-lethal disease that many in the Boston area thought was a problem confined to New York or San Francisco… or in any case, only targeting gay white men.
To meet the organization’s goals, we knew we had to increase awareness and engagement among a wide swath of greater Bostonians; we had to communicate that everyone’s neighbor could be at risk or need help; and we had to de-stigmatize the disease. The Walk needed to attract people “From all Walks of Life.”
Our initial campaign substantially increased support and awareness—so much so that we were retained to develop campaigns for the next five Walks—and for AIDS Action’s second most important fundraiser, their Dance-a-thon, followed by materials for their ARTcetera auctions.
Fast-forward 15 years: HIV / AIDS had become for many a manageable, if chronic, condition—with 40 drugs (and many efficacious combinations) available. But for some populations, infection rates continued to rise… and while the disease was treatable, no cure had been developed.
For AIDS Action’s 20th walk, we were again asked to lend our services, and to reprise and update the iconic identity we had created 15 years ago. Many thought that HIV / AIDS “was over,” so our job was to again raise awareness and funds.
All our work was largely pro bono.
Objectives
- Build awareness beyond the greater Boston white gay and healthcare communities around HIV / AIDS
- Increase participation in, and raise substantial sums from, their annual Walk
- Communicate why money was needed: research, prevention, and care
- Telegraph the uplifting community spirit that the Walk fosters
- Bring (subsequently) the same spirit and excitement to AIDS Action’s other two substantial fundraising efforts: their Dance-a-thon and ARTcetera art auction
- Years later, re-energize the 20th Walk by reprising and updating an identity that had substantial recognition
Collaboration
- Conducted leadership and community interviews and focus groups
- Crafted an innovative, systems-based identity that brought to life the Walk’s tagline
- Implemented this system across multi-platform campaigns and across 25 applications: from pledge forms, to buttons, to T posters, to event signage…
- Updated the annual identity for AIDS Action’s fifth through ninth Walks—building equity while also ensuring each year’s communications looked fresh
- Designed identity and campaign systems for AIDS Action’s Dance-a-thon and ARTcetera initiatives
- Reprised and updated our work for the 20th Walk
Scope
- Qualitative research
- Visual expression, with yearly updates for six pledge walks
- Allied visual systems for additional fundraising initiatives
- Multi-platform advertising campaigns
- Print and environmental communications
Evolving a now-iconic community-building brand
To engage and build resonance with the many communities AIDS Action needed to attract, we created the first version of the Walk’s new identity using photographs of 16 people’s faces—each an avatar for a different group. Using what would now be viewed as extremely primitive hardware and software, we deconstructed, then reconstructed, these images into a series of four composites—images we could use to tell our story.
The Sametz team quickly grasped and articulated what was needed to express our vision, attract people, and raise awareness of a spiraling epidemic. We certainly didn’t know at the time that the visual identity they crafted would prove to be so welcomed and durable, imagining that we would do something completely different the following year, just as we’d done in the past few. But we quickly learned we had gained significant brand equity.”
Larry Kessler
Founding Director, AIDS Action Committee
CRAFTING A MODULAR SYSTEM THAT PROVED ITS WORTH ACROSS APPLICATIONS
Across subsequent years, we continued to build equity, while keeping the identity fresh
Because the mark was so well recognized, we had the opportunity to play with it a little. Julius Caesar and the Tin Man were not part of our original 16 people, but they, and yearly color palette changes, moved people to take a second look, and enabled us to create campaigns that were at once fresh and brand-building.
Translating the identity into different languages further increased AIDS Action’s reach.
For the Walk’s 20th anniversary, we updated what had proved so memorable to so many.
Building on the Walk’s energy, we collaborated to develop AIDS Action’s Dance-a-thon and ARTcetera fundraising materials
Billboards, T posters, auction catalogues, and invitation packages built awareness and participation.
Over the first six years we worked with Sametz Blackstone, they continued to prove their value as a creative, thoughtful partner. We saw a steady increase in recognition, even in less interested and less informed minority communities—and year-over-increases in both dollars and attendees. Their four years of Dance-a-thons and materials for our auctions significantly bolstered our bottom line—enabling us to help more people, fund more research, and decrease infection rates. And all contributed!”
Larry Kessler