Della Femina, Rothschild Jeary & Partners Creates Multi-Strategy Campaign To Raise Awareness Of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia
Article Date: 18 Oct 2006 - 0:00 PDT


In recognition of SIDS Awareness Month, Della Femina Rothschild Jeary & Partners introduced a two-pronged campaign designed to raise the awareness of the threat of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The marketing effort is comprised of two individual communications approaches that complement one another to present both the anguish of parents who have suffered through the horror of SIDS and to celebrate the potential of every newborn baby.

"For the last several years, we have been working with the CJ Foundation to educate the public as to the simple steps they can take to limit the chances of sudden infant death syndrome," said Lynn McClouchic, Della Femina VP, Director of Client Services and a member of the SIDS board. "Our very successful 'Face up to wake up' campaign has resulted in significant media placements, distribution of critical educational materials, and most importantly, a decrease in SIDS deaths. But this year we are raising the awareness of this malady to a much broader audience by engaging people in all walks of life in addition to parents."

To do so, the campaign utilizes a direct appeal to the bond between mothers and their newborns. The ads depicted in the campaign entitled "imagine" focus on the loss of a child with women holding their arms in positions as if they were cradling their missing babies while the headline says, "Imagine the life of a perfectly healthy baby being unexpectedly claimed."

The provocative and emotional appeal of "Imagine" is being complemented with a campaign, "Baby", that celebrates the potential of every newborn. The ads show images of babies in potential future success situations. One has a baby prepared to make a speech and standing within a US Presidential Seal with the headline, "Every baby deserves a shot at becoming the commander-in-chief."

Both campaigns promote a website called, everybabycounts.com, a microsite that provides SIDS statistics and leads users directly to the CJ Foundation website for additional SIDS information.

"The idea of the campaigns was to appeal to both ends of the emotional spectrum. On one hand, there is the devastating loss of a child and on the other is the potential of that same child if steps had been taken to protect against SIDS," said Jerry Della Femina, Chairman and CEO of DFRJ.

The campaigns will begin running in October and already have significant donated media commitments from a variety of sources, including CBS Outdoor and Titan, a significant commitment from People Magazine, and CBS Radio has committed radio air time.

Joel Hollander, Chairman of the CJ Foundation and Chairman and CEO of CBS Radio remarks, "As a SIDS parent, I can tell you that I believe these campaigns are very hard-hitting and speak directly to the emotional issues that parents face with SIDS. We think that these campaigns will take our fight against SIDS to a whole new level. We proudly launch this campaign in recognition of SIDS Awareness Month along with a newly redesigned CJ Foundation website." Mr. Hollander and his wife, Susan, co-founded the CJ Foundation for SIDS in 1994 after the death of their daughter, Carly Jenna in 1993.

About DFRJ

Located in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, Della Femina/Rothschild/Jeary&Partners (DFRJ) is a full service communications company that specializes in building brands by working with its clients to create informative, persuasive, entertaining advertising that crosses all disciplines. The current agency was founded by advertising icon Jerry Della Femina in 1990 and has grown to 55 employees and more than $170 million in billings. Current clients include: The Advertising Council, Inc. (NYC Department of Education), American Home Mortgage (AHM), Baruch College, CB Richard Ellis, CJ Foundation for SIDS, Duff & Phelps, Financial Security Assurance, Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), Juno, Maimonides Medical Center, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Mercer Human Resource Services, Marsh Inc., New York/Long Island Honda Dealers, Saint Francis Hospital, Standard & Poor's, Purdue Pharma, Toshiba America Consumer Products. Visit DFRJ's Web site at http://www.dfjp.com.

About The CJ Foundation for SIDS

The CJ Foundation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to recognizing the special needs of the SIDS community through funding SIDS research and support services. The Foundation hopes to increase public awareness of SIDS and to contribute to a future in which no parent is faced with the tragedy of losing a loved one to SIDS. Visit the Foundation's Web site at http://www.cjsids.com.

Della Femina, Rothschild Jeary & Partners; CJ Foundation for SIDS
http://www.dfjp.com

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