CDSS had a goal of raising awareness of the abilities of their community, on a minuscule budget. But there were two issues:

Issue #1: Too Broad. With a small budget, the CDSS didn’t have the resources to break through to a mass audience. We needed to hone our efforts in two ways: we focused our efforts on people with Down syndrome and their parents, not the general public, and used our strategic process to map a journey of key ownable moments.

Issue #2: Too Expected. The desired creative approach was generic, and frequently employed by disability advocacy groups, “see the ability”. But we knew that simply saying it doesn’t make people believe it.

CDSS is “pro-information”, combating the stereotypes and stigma of Down syndrome. Our objective was to transform the perception of the Down syndrome community from a focus on a “see the ability” awareness campaign for the general public to actions designed to empower a community at key moments in their journey; to demonstrate their humanity instead of merely talking about it. Our efforts have closed gaps in support, information, and resources that make leading a full life more challenging for people with Down syndrome.

To better understand that audience and the moments when we could connect with them, we mapped their journey based on moments when our audience needed information and support. Moments our campaign could own.

Parents and individuals with Down syndrome have to constantly fight against misinformation and stereotypes. To support them, we went beyond saying what they can do, and instead demonstrated it. We decided to let people with Down syndrome speak for themselves.

Making voice technology accessible

With improving life expectancy, this generation of people with Down syndrome will be the first to outlive their parents, creating an urgent need for technologies that could help them live independently. Voice assistants could offer life-changing support, if only they could understand people with Down syndrome.

Proving the link between fitness and cognition

Fitness holds the power to improve cognition for people with Down syndrome, but it’s never been proven, so we recruited 200 people with Down syndrome to do just that.

Connecting the community to employers

North America is facing a historic labour shortage, yet over 50% of people with Down syndrome struggle to find paid, meaningful work. Employers had no idea this workforce existed, let alone where to connect with them.