Vancouver International Children's Festival

Reimagining Festival Joy Through Strategic Storytelling

We helped the festival shine brighter—with inclusive creative, smart strategy, and 30,000 smiling faces.

ID: The image is a close-up photo from an event at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival.A parent who is feminine-presenting with brown skin, long, dark hair, bright red lipstick, and teal earrings is crouched down next to their young child who is masculine-presenting. Both are smiling and appear joyful. The person is wearing a yellow blouse and carrying a tan shoulder bag. The child has short dark hair and is wearing a yellow and navy striped polo shirt. They are holding a large, colourful foam die with polka dots in purple, teal, and red. The background shows an outdoor play area with blue flooring and grassy surroundings.

The Project

Vancouver International Children’s Festival is an annual event for children that brings in talent and visitors from all across the globe. They were looking to us to develop a concept and campaign with key visuals to promote the event for their diverse visitors and donor audiences.

Our unique approach

The Vancouver International Children’s Festival has a vision of wanting to be recognised internationally for creating a unique and diverse celebration of the arts for children and grown ups. They realize that their festival promotions was somewhat lacking in the sense that it could be improved to appeal more to diverse parents and children. Building off authentically diverse programming and an in-depth research phase that considered reviewing detail donor and attendance data, we developed a comprehensive strategy and inclusive creative concept, theme, and visual campaign that – as the client requested for budgeting purposes – could be built off of in future years. The campaign was a resounding success garnering 30,000 attendees. All the while, the client received insights and solutions that not only fulfilled immediate needs but also established a solid foundation for extensions and adaptations for future years.

Deliverables

Community Engagement Research
Analysis and Insights Reporting
Creative Ideation and Implementation
Campaign Ideation and Messaging Strategy
Consultation

ID: A campaign image of two children against a white background promoting the Vancouver International Children’s Festival. The child on the left who is masculine-presenting with short black hair, olive skin, and wearing a lime green sweatshirt, is depicted in a cheerful running pose. The child on the right side who is feminine-presenting, light beige skin and long blonde hair, is dressed in a purple dress, glasses, pink scrunchy, black leather jacket, and is shown dancing and having fun with their arms stretched out. Both children are surrounded by childlike drawings on a white backdrop of a snowman, hearts, musical notes, and other graphic elements.

ID: The festival poster shown on a tablet, being held by a parent. The advertisement features illustrations and text, promoting the Vancouver International Children’s Festival. A child in a green shirt, depicted as a cartoon-style snowman waving, is on one side of the panel. A different child on in the middle is drawn as a fairy in a pink shirt, holding a magic wand and wearing a crown. The child on the right is drawn dancing while wearing glasses, a scrunchy, leather jacket, and a purple dress. The text “Ignite your child’s playful joy” is visible in purple. Details of the event are listed just below. The style of the illustrations is child-like and whimsical, with drawings of flowers, stars, and other decorative elements. The background of the advertisement is white.

ID: Full side view of a bus advertisement. The advertisement features a white rectangular panel on the side of the bus, with illustrations and text, promoting the Vancouver International Children’s Festival. A child in a green shirt, depicted as a cartoon-style snowman waving, is on one side of the panel. A different child is drawn as a fairy in a pink shirt, holding a magic wand and wearing a crown. The text “Ignite your child’s playful joy” is visible in purple and white. The bus’s body color is yellow and light beige, with darker parts around the windows. The style of the illustrations is child-like and whimsical, with drawings of flowers, stars, and other decorative elements. The background of the advertisement is white.

“Add a quote here from the client if one exists. If there isn’t, we can maybe try getting one from the internal team who was involved in the project who wants to celebrate a success, avoiding only celebrating the client.”

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“We enlisted AndHumanity's expertise to assist us in strategizing, developing, and overseeing an inclusive and diverse campaign for our Festival. Their involvement resulted in the creation of a comprehensive strategy that not only effectively positioned our Festival but also offered valuable insights that we continue to use today. The resulting campaign not only fulfilled our immediate needs but also established a solid foundation for future extensions and adaptations. Throughout our collaboration, our team gained valuable insights from AndHumanity's JEDI lessons and approach. Their refreshing and thoughtful process ensures lasting solutions for their clients. We wouldn't hesitate to collaborate with them again in the future.”

— Joanna Da Silva, Marketing Manager