The Conor Lynch Foundation has been established to support new and existing programs that raise awareness about the perils of Distracted Driving. #DONTGETDEAD
Sixteen year old Conor Lynch was a healthy, happy teenaged kid. One day, during cross-country practice, his life was suddenly cut short when a distracted driver hit him as he crossed the street. This tragedy left a dark cloud over the community of Sherman Oaks, leaving many with questions, but few with answers.
In the wake of Conor’s death, his family founded a foundation to preserve his memory and prevent other families from sharing their fate. And so, The Conor Lynch Foundation was established, to support new and existing programs that raise awareness and promote the safety of runners, pedestrians, cyclists and young drivers.
My objective was to launch the Conor Lynch Foundation from the ground up and raise awareness around the foundation, cause, and events.
Since the Conor Lynch Foundation had no history, my first priority was developing a brand identity that established trust. I designed the logo and website with light colors that reflected life and hope, in line with the foundation’s message. The site was laid out to feature media that would grab your attention and tell you everything about the foundation, without having to read anything. I complemented this with call outs to events, social media, and organizational news.
The center of the Conor Lynch Foundation fundraising efforts is an annual, “In Honor of Conor” 5K run. This run generates the majority of the non-profit’s funds, which are distributed to new and existing programs that promote awareness for pedestrians, runners, cyclists, and young drivers. Therefore, after the initial brand building and website design, I created an integrated marketing strategy to maximize the awareness for the foundation and increase signups for the run.
When visitors came to the site, they were welcomed with a PSA video featuring actor David Koechner (Anchorman, Talladega Nights), putting a twist on traditional PSA ads. As visitors navigated the website, it would encourage them to sign up for their homegrown e-newsletter, and take visitors to social media channels.
I devised a geo-targeted marketing campaign that combined both on and offline efforts to rally the community around the cause. I leveraged traditional channels offline as an initial touch point of awareness and coupled that with a strong, online presence that drove home the importance of the foundation’s mission. I took the newly established brand and designed fliers, posters, and bus bench advertising collateral. I blanketed the Sherman Oaks area with colorful designs to educate the community about the newly formed foundation. This offline advertising helped drive organic traffic to the Conor Lynch Foundation website.
I used the virality of Facebook and Twitter to further connect with website visitors, promoting both the cause and the 5K run. A regular schedule of posts balanced engaging content, with the real life results, and often tragedies, of distracted living. This made for organic growth, and drove more registrations to the 5K run.
To cap off each year, I focused social efforts on the Annual 5K run. I worked diligently with foundation organizers to bring on sponsors, integrate communication, and maximize media, to truly create a full brand experience.
The Conor Lynch Foundation is a full-service campaign. One with a very big place in my heart.
My integrated marketing strategy for the Conor Lynch Foundation accomplished exactly what we set out to do. We established the foundation within the community of Sherman Oaks, and generated awareness that turned into actionable results.
Yearly 5K Registrations
Dollars In Yearly Donations
PSA Views
In addition to the event success, I positioned the Conor Lynch Foundation for years of continued growth, via email list of 3,000+ supporters, and over 5,000 organic Facebook and Twitter followers. The PSA has currently received 75,000+ views, and continues to expand with each new foundation partner. With my help, the Conor Lynch Foundation has established themselves as the premier safety awareness platform, and many have joined the cause. Foundation partners include Mercedes Benz, AAA, AT&T, Cliff Bar, Wells Fargo, and celebrities like Ben Vereen, Larry-Wilcox (of “CHiPs”), and Billy Gardel (“Mike & Molly”).
I look forward to our continued partnership with the Conor Lynch Foundation, and our ongoing efforts in improving the world.