Cundari, Hospital for Sick Children take home top CMA Award

TORONTO, Dec. 3, 2012 /CNW/ - The Toronto Hospital for Sick Children "Pain Squad" campaign took home the top honour at the 42^nd annual Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) Awards Gala on Friday, November 30 in Toronto. Recipient of the 2012 CMA Best of the Best Award, the campaign was developed by Cundari and featured a mobile app created to help develop better pain management programs for children suffering from cancer.

"Cundari developed a campaign that delivered measurable results, opening the doors of communications for healthcare professionals while bringing a sense of fun, accomplishment, and -- most of all -- hope to its youthful detectives in training," noted CMA President and CEO John Gustavson.

Each SickKids' patient participating in the program was given an iPhone preloaded with The Pain Squad application that "recruited" them into an elite team of pain detectives. Recruits gained ranks within The Pain Squad every time they filed three consecutive reports. Earning new ranks also unlocked motivational videos starring cast members from Canada's Flashpoint and Rookie Blue TV series who congratulated patients on their progress and encouraged them to keep up the good work. Once the final report was filed, one last video commended the patient on their dedication and officially retired them from the squad.

The Toronto Hospital for Sick Children reports that completion rates for the cancer pain journals have jumped to 90 per cent since The Pain Squad's launch. Its success has also paved the way for the program's introduction to four more Canadian pediatric hospitals, with an international release on the horizon.

The CMA Awards Gala is the largest marketing awards event in Canada.  A full list of CMA Award winners can be found on the CMA website (www.the-cma.org/winners).

About the Canadian Marketing Association:
The Canadian Marketing Association embraces Canada's major business sectors and all marketing disciplines, channels and technologies. Its 800-plus members encompass all facets of marketing and represent consumer and business-to-business marketers and agencies.  These organizations make a major contribution to the economy through the sale of goods and services, investments in media and new marketing technologies and employment for Canadians. CMA helps shape the future of marketing in Canada.  It is the leading provider of marketing education and the marketing community's principal advocate on key public policy issues affecting both consumer and business-to-business marketers.

SOURCE: Canadian Marketing Association

Ed Cartwright, Assistant Vice-President, Communications
Tel: [phone]; email: [email protected]