ACLU and World Central Kitchen Fundraiser Banks on Love

What’s not to love about a marketing agency seeking to spread a message of affection? That’s the animating impulse behind a campaign from agency Manual Labor, which has partnered with 10 designers and creators to promote the work of the ACLU and World Central Kitchen. Both nonprofits find themselves respectively combating hate and hunger amid an infinite number of organizations desperate to boost donations. Rather than a direct appeal, Manual Labor, a Brooklyn branding studio run by a husband and wife advertising team, has crafted a more subtle effort aimed at capturing hearts first. The idea is that wallets will follow. The campaign’s inspiration is also tied to a celebration of Manual Labor’s 10th anniversary. Founder and CEO/Chief Creative Officer Samantha Choi tapped 10 designers and artists from its existing “good people network” of creators to illustrate stickers for "The Love Project." Among them is the Shepard and Amanda Fairey-founded Studio Number One. Manual Labor is making a $5,000 donation each to ACLU and World Central Kitchen to kick off the fundraiser. The goal is to have people donate to either charity (or both), and the agency will send them a sticker pack that highlights the work form 10 gifted artists and organizations. Brooklyn-based Manual Labor's Love Project coincides with the branding studio's 10th anniversary. “Two years ago, I had this idea about spreading love through design, and we thought it would be fun to kick it off on Valentine's Day,” Choi told Adweek. “But when we really started thinking about what this could be—and how hard these last few years have been—we knew we wanted it to mean more.” Apart from promoting two worthy causes, there’s an implicit message aimed at branding clients. As marketers feel more pressure to downplay fuzzy messages of brand purpose in favor of more call to action-oriented performance efforts, Choi hopes to inspire clients to see a direct connection between the soft power of driving affinity and consumer spending. “Given the mission and goal for the project, it's the combination of driving something that screams brand values—and most importantly our values as an organization,” Choi said. “We talk a lot about driving scale and performance for business with our clients. But imagine applying that to going good? "We believe that even from our little corner of Brooklyn, we can make a difference in supporting human rights and human needs. We are employing a range of outbound marketing activities across paid, owned and earned that allow us to tell that story, get people to share organically and find it through paid channels.” Neve Campbell Sees Old Horror Tropes as a Waste of Blood in Brilliant Red Cross PSA

Brand Purpose

ACLU and World Central Kitchen Fundraiser Banks on Love

Brooklyn agency Manual Labor makes the case that branding is essential, not a luxury

David Kaplan

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David Kaplan