Case Study:
AN OPPORTUNITY SEIZED
Watch the film.
POWER FORWARD had an incredible opportunity: As a non-profit built around sober living, founded by NHL great Kevin Stevens, POWER FORWARD had always been an organization driven by purpose, not profit. So when Kevin’s friend, and companion in sobriety, Paul “Paulie” Veneto came to them with a bold vision that would shine a light on the power of recovery, while honoring a group of forgotten heroes, they knew they had to be a part of it.
In memory of the 34 crew members who died on September 11th, 2001, Paulie, a retired flight attendant himself, would Push an Airline Beverage Cart 224 miles, from Logan Airport, to New York City, arriving at Ground Zero on September 11th, 2021.
““What those flight Attendents Did on 9/11...They were the first First Responders, and they deserve to Be Treated as heroes.”
Power Forward, a 501c non profit, would sponsor the event, raising money to support their sober living scholarships and 9/11 charities. It was an one-of-a-kind opportunity to do incredible good, and bring national attention to Power Forward’s mission. And they asked us to help them seize it.
Building a Brand Eco-System
Our Challenge was to go beyond telling the story. We had to build a movement in real-time. Armed with only volunteer hours and organic growth, we had just a few weeks to hone our message, make films, capture images, build a website, and create and grow interconnecting social accounts, to tell this story.
To maximize our reach, we not only created the media, but we developed a system to quickly share video and photographic assets with local and national news outlets, bloggers, podcasters, tik-tokers, influencers and anyone else who could help spread the word about Paulie’s Push.
BACKSTORY
Paulie, a retired flight attendant, had been scheduled to work aboard United Flight 175 on September 11th, 2001. Bumped from the flight at the last minute due to lack on seniority, this twist of fate had saved his life, but not the lives of his fellow crew members. After a 15 year battle with opioids, and five years of sobriety, with the 20th anniversary of 9/11 looming, Paulie was determined to honor his fallen crew members, and show what is possible while living a sober life.
“Working with COMPEL was an outstanding experience for all of us at Power Forward! They have an uncanny ability to truly listen, and to develop an individualized platform and impactful strategic plan. As a result of their filmmaking, photography, site building, and social media content, we have seen an unprecedented increase in engagement, donations and awareness of Power Forward’s mission.”
A NOTE ON THE BUDGET:
COMPEL was keenly aware that every dollar we spent was a dollar not going toward the cause. We volunteered our time and shot everything in available light with a DLSR attached to a stick. It doesn’t show (and we’re very proud of that) but we pulled this off on a shoe-string.
Results
Journey’s End
After 22 days, 224 miles, and more memories than we can count, Paulie’s Push 2021 came to a close. Paulie arrived at Ground Zero at 1:15pm on September 11th, 2021, his six year anniversary of sobriety.
Paulie’s Push shattered fundraising expectations. His story reached millions. The films we made were viewed hundreds of thousands of times on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Vimeo. At its peak, the site received over 20k visits a day. We were featured on The Today Show, Inside Edition, The CBS Nightly News, The Drew Barrymore Show, in People Magazine, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Boston Globe, on ABC, NBC, FOX and countless other platforms.
Power Forward created a Sober Living Scholarship, a resource for guidance and safe, sober housing for those in recovery. Paulie is living proof of what you can achieve with a sober life, and Power Forward is set on creating more success stories, just like Paulie’s.
Paulie’s dream is to make the Push to Ground Zero an annual tradition, where every year he can honor his fallen crew members, and continue to spread his message of hope. And if Power Forward is back out there next August, we will be too, chasing after him with a camera attached to a stick.
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