Whizz Kidz, the UK’s leading charity for young wheelchair users has released a short campaign film as the final stage of their brand refresh, in partnership with Manifest and production company Gusto
The one-minute film, staring eleven -year-old Jasper Thornton-Jones, from Reigate, Surrey, aims to raise awareness of the charity and the real difference it makes to its beneficiaries by providing them with the right wheelchair.
The film depicts the story of many of the young people Whizz Kidz supports. Often wheelchairs provided by local services can be heavier and clunkier making it difficult for them to self-propel.
It then shows how much more freedom, confidence and independence children like Jasper have, as a result of being provided with a more suitable lightweight and agile chair by Whizz Kidz. For Jasper, the right wheelchair allows him to keep up with his brother Elliot, on his scooter as they walk to school with their parents and the family dog.
The film ends with Jasper sharing the key message of the new campaign, he said:
“I’m young, disabled, but not so different.
Same dreams, same drive, same drama.
Same world, just harder to get around.
But with the right support, I’m on a roll.”
Tamsin Haines, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Whizz Kidz, explains why the new campaign film and it core messages are so important.
She said: “At Whizz Kidz, we have an important story to tell. It’s the story of why we’re vital for thousands of young wheelchair users and their families. Working closely with Manifest & Gusto Film, who are experts in powerful storytelling, we set out to raise awareness of our work but also to shift the narrative of how young, disabled people are represented. The young people we support aren’t “superhuman” and they don’t need our pity. Their lives aren’t so different.
“Building on the strong foundations of our recent brand refresh, we’re incredibly proud to launch our first ever brand campaign which celebrates the independence and freedom of the young people we support in a way which is relatable for our target audience.”
The spot was co-produced and directed by Gusto Film. The 30” film, which runs on Sky Media VOD is complemented by press running in the FT, paid social, display ads and a 30″ audio going into podcasts via Acast
Daisy Phillips, Creative Director at Manifest, said: “We knew from the moment we met the Whizz Kidz team that we’d be perfect partners. This is exactly the type of work that’s aligned with our values, unified thinking and that we’re passionate about at Manifest. When creating the storyboard for the brand film, we knew it needed to be told from a wheelchair user’s perspective to drive emotion and resonance with their lived experience and to showcase the lives of so many young wheelchair users – just like Jasper – positively. We’re incredibly proud of the work with Whizz Kidz and we couldn’t be more excited to help elevate the brand to the next level.”
The brand refresh work, which started last summer, was funded with 55% of the money needed provided pro bono. The refresh reflects more accurately who Whizz Kidz are for a growing audience with a welcoming feel.
It represents the charities bold ambition to push things forward for young wheelchair users and shows how the organisation is buzzing with life, energy and passion.
Tamsin said: “At the heart of our brand is our iconic Whizz Kidz symbol which brings another flash of energy in the dynamic form of a lightning bolt, blended with the classic International Symbol of Access to represent the wheelchair user. “
One key reason the refresh was vital, was to make Whizz Kidz accessible to everyone. The new colours and fonts were chosen with that in mind.
Tamsin said:” Accessibility is so important to us and our community that we needed to see that represented in the brand without compromises. The new colours and fonts were chosen with that in mind.
“The contrast between the foreground and background meets the highest standards set by WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). We’ll ensure we do everything possible to make all our content as accessible as possible. That goes right down to removing the hyphen between Whizz and Kidz in our name. It doesn’t work well on software that reads screens for people with visual disabilities, so it’s gone. Say a not-that-fond farewell to Whizz-Kidz; we’re Whizz Kidz now (apart from in website URLs and email addresses).”
