Parkinson Canada pairs with Elle to change perception of the disease

The "Swagger" campaign includes OOH, wild postings and a fashion spread featuring real life women.

Parkinson Canada has struck a new partnership to put a more positive spin on how those living with the disease are perceived, including how they perceive themselves.

That’s the idea informing the latest chapter in Parkinson Canada’s “Swagger” campaign. The organization is enlisting the help of Elle Canada in a first-of-its-kind partnership that will see a fashion spread telling the story of real-life women living with the condition. The feature, titled “These Canadian Women Living with Parkinson’s are Finding Confidence Through Fashion,” will run in the magazine’s September issue.

Initiative took the lead on media, while the creative and strategy was handled by Broken Heart Love Affair.

“In short, we wanted to position Parkinson’s differently from the typical tired ‘old man’ perceptions that the condition has,” explains Cass Farry, vice president of client success at Broken Heart Love Affair.” The agency had already decided they would use a fashion photographer – in this case Renee Rodenkirchen – to bring energy to the planned OOH, says Farry.

“The Initiative team identified Elle Canada as an ideal partner to further the fashion angle that we were establishing. They brokered a paid partnership with Elle featuring the same imagery that we shot for OOH,” Farry adds.

The OOH will be bolstered with street level posters, Farry says. She adds that OOH is now live in English Canada, with major placements in locations like Yonge and Dundas in Toronto, and in close proximity to roadsides, hospitals and elevators. The campaign’s primary target is people living with Parkinson’s.

“This campaign is already changing the conversation in ways we’ve never seen,” said Scott Townsend, vice president of brand strategy, marketing and communications at Parkinson Canada. “Beyond this bold new positioning, the agency’s ideas for how we can present the real face of Parkinson’s to the world, have been inspiring for us as an organization, but more importantly for the more than 100,000 Canadians who live with the misperceptions of Parkinson’s every day,” he added.

“Ultimately, we’re aiming for perception change,” Farry says. “We want people living with Parkinson’s, and really anyone affected by Parkinson’s, to feel confident and more inspired. We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response so far both from inside the Parkinson’s community and from others.”