FosterCare2015SC

We’ve been working with IFYS Foster Care on an ongoing basis and are very proud to share with you more about the incredible job this wonderful group does in our community and how we’ve been able to assist them.

As of 30 June 2015 Queensland Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services statistics show that 8,812 children and young people were living away from home.

ifys cairns 2015According to current population and social trends, the number of children going into foster care will at least double in the next 10 years.  Unfortunately, the number of foster carers available to help is decreasing at the same alarming rate as the increase in numbers of children requiring support.  IFYS Foster Care is constantly seeking better and more innovative ways to push the desperate message that our community needs more foster carers.

For several years IFYS Foster Care has used custom coffee cups as powerful, mini-billboards to encourage conversation and place the above messaging into literally thousands of hands.

Fostercare and my paper cups IFYS representative, Paul Morton, provided us with the following insights about their overall campaign,

‘Our use of branded paper cups is one small part of a number of congruent, multilevel, multimedia branding and promotion strategies that we run. These campaigns have included cinema and radio advertising, outdoor broadcasts, billboards and other outdoor signage, letter box drops, sponsored sports teams, themed websites, social media, and booths in shopping centres and public places.’

 Paul explained further how the cups are used.

 ‘We found that our positive, colourful and evocative pictures of children, young people and carers allowed us to place an ‘in your face’ visual narrative on each of our cups.  The cups not only tell a positive story about foster care, but also direct the coffee drinker to our website which contains our contact details and information about how they might be able to help.

Foster Care - Printed Paper Cups 2‘Essentially we attempted to saturate coffee shops, delis and bakeries within specific, targeted communities. For instance, over 40 businesses within a particular suburban cluster were recently distributing our branded paper cups when serving coffee to their patrons while the same community was being exposed to shopfront booth workers and receiving 

flyers in their letter boxes.’

Mr Morton acknowledged that the cups were used to serve two important roles:

Foster Care - Printed Paper Cups

  1.  They are an important part of a number of congruent strategies that are simultaneously saturating the targeted communities with our brand.
  2. Our cups are a simple, uncomplicated ‘call to action’.  Never mind what the actual messaging is on the cup, the strong inference will always be that the coffee drinker should be our next foster carer.  The rest of the message merely directs the patron to our website where they can make further enquiries.

It’s been a pleasure to work with IFYS Foster Care and witness the remarkable job they do.  To learn more about their great work head to their websites – www.fostercare.com.au