Harrison Smith is six. He has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. There's no treatment, no cure and little hope.

His Dad, Alex, set up Harrison's Fund to raise money for research. Not easy when no-one's heard of DMD, and you've got no budget. So he asked us to help.

The Evening Standard offered space. It was a start.

Alex told us something in passing. Something shocking. That sometimes, he wished his son had cancer instead. A disease people knew of. That was treatable and, possibly, survivable.

We knew it would make a powerful story. With huge PR potential. So we ran it.

Newspapers covered the story. Alex was immediately invited on to the two leading news broadcasts in the UK, ITV and the BBC. And things really took off online, where our PR team and social media community managers waited to respond. Of course, such a shocking statement wasn't met with universal approval so we hosted the debate on the Harrison’s Fund Facebook page.

Website visits went up by 17,000%. Facebook reach increased by 800% - 99% was viral reach beyond the existing community. And people debated and donated from around the world.

Major businesses, like Barclays Capital, pledged support. A documentary's in the pipeline. And donations are up by over 200% to £65,000.

Not bad for a 25x4 black and white press ad.

Like our strategy, the creative execution was simple. A brave, thought-provoking statement. Followed by an emotional and honest plea from a father in anguish, contemplating a future without his son. Alex’s words and pain echoed in a black and white shot of him holding, loving and desperately wanting to protect Harrison. The key was to avoid the usual clichés of charity advertising, it had to feel like Alex himself had put the ad together so we wrote in the first person and deliberately made the ad feel minimally art directed.

It definitely got noticed.

Our ad certainly grabbed attention.

Newspapers covered the story as far away as Brazil. Alex landed appearances on ITV and the BBC. And things really took off online. Where our community managers waited to respond.

Website visits went up by 17,000%. And people debated and donated from around the world.

Major businesses, like Barclays Capital, pledged support. A documentary about Harrison and DMD is in the pipeline. Direct donations are up by over 200% to £65,000.

Not bad for a 25x4 black and white press ad and no budget. But one brave client.