Resource Guide

2019 World wish day OVERVIEW

I wish to be a police officer
Chriswish granted, 1980leukemia

Where there is a wish, there is a way!

World Wish Day, 29 April, celebrates the day that Chris Greicius’ wish was granted in 1980 – sparking the creation of Make-A-Wish and a global wish-granting movement. Now, 39 years later, we are recognizing what we call World Wish Day, a celebration of Chris’ wish, the more than 450,000 wishes we have granted worldwide since then, and the hundreds of thousands of wishes yet to come. World Wish Day, is a great opportunity to bring our brand to-life for a global audience.

Around the world, a wish is granted every 17 minutes to a child diagnosed with a critical illness.

Wishes can give children the strength to keep going, the perspective to see themselves differently, and most importantly, research shows the physical and emotional benefits of wishes can help children get better.

The 2019 World Wish Day campaign will be activated across national, international, chapter and affiliate-level PR and social media platforms and anchored by a new PSA. The PSA will show the powerful and important role a wish plays and evolves the 2018 World Wish Day strength thematic by utilizing wish children and an older wish alum. The concept is based on the theme, “Where There Is A Wish, There Is A Way,” with the goal of garnering top-tier PR/earned media during the month of April and beyond.

Campaign Messaging

When a wish is granted, a child replaces fear with confidence, sadness with joy, and anxiety with hope. Wishes gave/still give alumni the strength to fight their critical illnesses.

A wish is a necessary part of a child's overall medical treatment plan
Make-A-Wish is not a last wish

Social Media Activation

Social media activation will center around #WishWednesday, where every Make-A-Wish account (national, international, chapter and affiliate) will push out inspiring and engaging content in weekly “social takeovers” each Wednesday in April. The goal of these “takeovers” is to optimize reach and engagement of the #WishWednesday hashtag with a singular message across all Make-A-Wish channels.

Content to include: PSA promotion, wish alum features and more! Additionally, we will coordinate with Make-A-Wish America to activate on #WishWednesday to increase engagement and impressions even further with an effort to “own” Wednesdays in April. More information regarding planning for affiliate and partner/support content to be shared in the coming weeks. Additionally, the International team will be outreaching to many of the affiliates who have recommended wish alum with inspiring stories that may be shared during #WishWednesday. For specific questions on social media activations, please contact Apple Lee, Associate Director, Digital Marketing, at applelee@worldwish.org.

International PR Activation

Make-A-Wish International will distribute PSAs via this resource guide.
On World Wish Day, we will launch the Aladdin campaign that will run through 24 May.
- This will generate significant revenue, PR and social media for the enterprise.
- Details are still confidential but will be shared as soon as possible.

Local PR Activation

Affiliates are encouraged to utilize #WishWednesday (3, 10, 17 and 24 April) to secure morning show or similar placements with local media outlets to air the PSA. This is a great opportunity to integrate both current wish children as well as wish alum “where are they now” stories into the media coverage.
A local press release will be provided to affiliates via this resource guide as part of the campaign assets.
Affiliates should reserve World Wish Day (Monday, 29 April) for media opportunities related to the Aladdin campaign noted above.

I wish to be in a princess parade
Youn-Woo, 5ovarian cancer

Campaign Cadence

The PSA will launch on #WishWednesday, 3 April.
On each subsequent #WishWednesday (10, 17, 24 April), we will launch wish child and wish alum content to reinforce our communication goals.
On 29 April, the Aladdin campaign will launch. Further details will be forthcoming.

The turnkey assets that will be provided to affiliates in March via this resource guide include:

Broadcast Assets

English :30 PSA (donate and general versions)
- Each affiliate will receive a general localized English :30 PSA, including their affiliate logo and URL to share with their local media.
Spanish :30 PSA (general version)
:30 localizable radio PSA

Website Assets

Hero Image
Banner
Lightbox

Miscellaneous Digital Banners

Banner sizes include: 728x90 and 300x250

Social Media Assets

April social media plan and schedule, including:
- Social media templates for affiliates, wish alum, celebrities and sponsors, including:
- Post images (wish child images/generic campaign images)
- Social media versions of PSA
- Cover photos for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

PR

PR activation guide
Local press release

Logos

World Wish Day logos and sub-brand logo guidelines are available in the Brand Guide.

Emails

Four emails will be sent to International's email subscribers in support of the World Wish Day campaign. The dates for those messages are 3, 10, 17 and 24 April. If you have questions about local email activation or would like additional support, please contact Jose Martínez, Director, Digital at jmartinez@worldwish.org.

NEW! SOME ASSETS AVAILABLE. CLICK HERE TO VIEW AND DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE ASSETS.

Affiliate Participation

By activating the campaign in your local market, each affiliate will help build reach for the campaign and ensure consistent campaign messaging throughout the month of April.

To drive campaign reach, affiliates should focus on:

Utilizing the assets provided to engage your local TV/media/digital properties and social media audiences
Asking your local station to play the :30 PSA and spotlight local wish children and alum
Supporting the Aladdin activation on World Wish Day

We hope this information puts you well on your way to planning a successful campaign activation in 2019. We look forward to sharing further campaign assets with you in March. Please feel free to reach out to Brittany Kearney, Manager, Corporate Alliances at bkearney@worldwish.org with any other questions.

Thank you for your time and support!

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