Montreal, April 7, 2025 – With its network of 375 community agencies, giving to Centraide today will benefit everyone tomorrow. Facing a growing social crisis, Centraide of Greater Montreal and Rethink are joining forces in a new awareness campaign.
“This initiative aims to raise public awareness of the scale of current needs. Social issues,
such as the lack of affordable housing and homelessness, are more visible than ever, and are hitting closer to home,” points out Julie Gagné, Vice-President, Marketing and Technology, Centraide of Greater Montreal. In fact, according to a survey conducted by Léger in collaboration with Centraide, one in four people earning $59,000 or less has experienced an “episode of poverty”. Even average incomes may sometimes be insufficient to cover the essential expenses of daily life.
Following an unexpected, serious hardship, people can suddenly find themselves in great difficulty, losing their bearings, which is when a whole network of community agencies will start to mobilize. This network represents a safety net for 1 in 5 people in Greater Montreal, but in reality, 5 out of 5 people who benefit from it. Thanks to this support, each person can transform their trajectory, regain their dignity and achieve their full potential, which benefits everyone.
“The angle of the campaign is to show that a person helped today can, tomorrow, take his or her place in the community as a neighbor, a friend, a worker, a client, a volunteer, and so on. We play on two temporalities: on the one hand, the moment when the individual receives help, and on the other, the future when, thanks to this support, he or she can blossom and contribute fully to society,” emphasizes Nicolas Labbé, concept-copywriter at Rethink.
“We want to remind people that collective efforts to help and offer services improve the future of hundreds of thousands of people and benefit the entire community,” adds Julie Gagné. Available in 30- and 15-second TV and Web spots, as well as out-of-home, radio and digital placements, the campaign shows the trajectories of individual lives, transformed by the help of community agencies supported by Centraide, for the greater benefit of all.
CREDITS
Customer: Centraide of Greater Montreal
Claude Pinard, Julie Gagné, Chantal Pouliot, Gabrielle B-Gagnon, Petra Ménard-Oszetzky
Agency: Rethink
Executive Creative Director: Xavier Blais
Creative Director: Geneviève Jannelle
Art Direction: Jean-Nicolas Duval, Patrick Seymour
Concept-copywriting: Nicolas Labbé
Strategy: Pascal Routhier, Thalie Bernier
Consulting: Mélanie Châteauneuf, Adriana Marquis-Duzink
Agency production: Marie-Pier Lavoie-Sigouin, Éliane Chartier
Studio production: April Haffenden, Claire Khan
Computer graphics: Frédérick Bailleul
Production company: SOMA
Director: Sarah Pellerin
Photography: Simran Dewan
Executive production: Geneviève Cabana-Proulx
Production: Sophie Thériault
Camera assistant: Alexandra Pogorzelski
Production management: Jonathan Giroux
Art direction: Suzel D. Smith
Styling : Élisabeth Morad
Stage manager : Guillaume Bessette
Editing : Charles Grenier
Colorization : Martin Gaumond (Outpost)
Online : Amélie Santerre (Outpost)
Sound : Circonflex
Sound engineer : Craig Murdock
Illustrations : Collagène – Jérôme Mireault
Media : Espace M
Media direction : Vickie Dugas
Media strategy : Maxime Jai