Every year, 8% of births happen prematurely and families have to handle the anxiety of such an unexpected situation.

Infants who are even a few weeks early can require extra care, so it is hard to imagine the situation and experience of parents dealing with an extreme preterm birth.

The constant stresses of their unstable health, in what can only be described as anxiety inducing environments. The long days and nights away from home, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away. The emotional toll it takes as parents to put on a brave face while channeling what strength they have to their babies. The amazing strength and courage these preemies represent, making them an extremely powerful symbol of life.

Préma-Québec is the only foundation in Quebec that support parents of premature children psychologically and financially. To pursue its mission, Préma-Québec needed to increase the number of new donors.

In addition to bringing the Préma-Québec cause to life among Quebecers, the book became a way to generate donations, since all profits from the book sales were donated to the foundation.

We used all the advertising principles of a book launch to make "The 1.8 Pound Book" a launch success and, in the end, to collect donations for Préma-Québec. We launched a first wave of communication, announcing the book's release on December 17th. The book became the perfect Christmas gift, while collecting donations for a good cause.

Then, on World Prematurity Day, which takes place every year on November 17th, we launched our second phase of communication. We announced that the book would not come out on December 17th as planned... but on November 17th, a month earlier than expected!

The Launch

Our first phase of communications began by announcing the book's release on December 17th, right before the Holiday season with TV, Video, Social and Display, OOH and PR.

The Premature Release

On World Prematurity Day, which takes place every year on November 17th, we completely changed our creatives on all our channels to announce the premature arrival of the 1.8 Pound Book!

The book was officially released in every bookstore across the province one month earlier than expected.

To give this early launch even more impact than it deserved, we put together:

- All TV, OOH, social and digital creatives were changed to announce the new release date

- PR and social posts announcing the premature release

- One of the book's authors gave an interview on Quebec’s most popular morning talk show and at the Montreal Book Convention

The 1.8 Pound Book allowed Quebecers to grasp the fragile reality of preemies… and to give generously to the cause.

In total, 7 000 copies of the book were printed, wichi represents a double bestseller in Quebec! All profits from the book sales will be donated to the foundation.

Our premature campaign allowed Préma-Québec to see an increase of new donor of 33% YOY and the help request from parents increased by 81% YOY.