The challenge was to get the public to identify with families struggling in third-world countries due to water-related illness. With that problem in mind, the creative team set out to find a human truth that links the public to families in these situations. The result was The Last Family Portrait.

Every 20 seconds, a family in Sub-Saharan Africa loses a loved one to unsafe drinking water. Without anything to remember them by. That’s why WATERisLIFE, teamed with award-winning photographer Neil DaCosta, embarked on project that gave Ethiopian families their first ever portraits. Knowing it might be their last.

Each family posed in front of a marbled blue backdrop, mimicking the classic American style portrait. And although only a dozen families from the Hamar and Mursi tribes are featured in the campaign, over one hundred families had their pictures taken. All of which had never even received a picture of themselves before, let alone a family portrait.

From the print to the PR website, the media team set out to find the most direct channels to maximize our reach to our audience. The PR site held all content and was advertised on the client website as well. Various prints were chosen to run in well-known magazines and newspapers like Bloomberg and WSJ. And all social media was used to reach out to the younger demographic that frequents their Instagram and Facebook page.

The campaign was a success as it shifted the perception of what a family looks like in the third-world. With the release of the project, WATERisLIFE donations increased by 150% in the first week. Website traffic increased ten-fold and the YouTube views increased exponentially. With the goal of the project to increase awareness and donations, both were reached easily within the first couple days of the project’s debut.