We created a medium of its own, one that could carry the message of the campaign and that could collect donations for Préma-Québec.

In fact, we created a custom children's book called The 1.8 Pound Book which was weighing the equivalent of a very large preemie: the best way to understand the fragile reality of a preemie.

Since the book carried an important message, we chose to replicate the early arrival of a preemie by bringing forward the release of the book to a month earlier. On that day, every placement was carefully changed to announce the early book launch.

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.

Holding a preterm child in your hands remains etched in your memory for a long time. But for those who have never experienced it, we had to make them understand the fragility of a premature baby to raise attention for the cause and the foundation.

Préma-Québec capitalized on this insight by creating "The 1.8 Pound Book" - a book weighing the equivalent of a very large preemie. The best way to make Quebecers understand the fragile reality of a premature child.

Distributed in every bookstore across the province of Quebec, the book contains 4 light-hearted stories about prematurity. The book jacket acts as a cover that protects and keeps warm the delicate baby face on the cover. This little face with a circumference of 21 cm reflects the reality of a very large premature baby. The readers are given the facts, such as the dimensions of a baby’s head

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.

We created a medium of its own, one that could carry the message of the campaign for Préma-Québec: a book

In fact, we created a custom children's book called The 1.8 Pound Book which was weighing the equivalent of a very large preemie: the best way to understand the fragile reality of a preemie.

Since the book carried an important message, we chose to replicate the early arrival of a preemie by bringing forward the release of the book to a month earlier. On that day, every placement was carefully changed to announce the early book

Every year in Quebec, 8% of births take place before term. Although prematurity is a real issue, few people know about Préma-Québec, the only foundation that helps parents of premature children. Quebecers needed to be educated about the subject.

Also, Canada is an extremely large and sparsely populated country and Quebec is one of its largest provinces. This means that most people live far away from the few large urban centers and that access to health care centers is complex. In addition, there are only six neonatal units in Quebec. Préma-Québec provides financial assistance to parents who must spend several weeks away from home taking care of their preemie, in hospitals and hotels, which is very expensive. Not to mention the emotional burden that affects these parents.