For the last five or so months, Quirk Creative CEO and co-founder Meryl Draper has been leading a coalition of marketers working pro bono on abortion-related causes, connecting them with organizations in need.
“As I was matching organizations and marketing freelancers to nonprofits, there was a point where I was like, ‘Okay, now it’s Quirk’s turn. Let’s raise our hand and get involved,’” she said.
In collaboration with seven other coalition members, Quirk helped create the latest campaign for the National Abortion Federation (NAF) called “It’s Your Call.”
It centers around NAF’s abortion hotline, which provides consultations, counseling, referrals, and financial assistance to those seeking care. The ad features women, like actress Kathy Najimy, sharing their abortion stories. According to Draper, the campaign was one of the fastest her team has worked on, completed in a matter of weeks.
“We all see the headlines every day of people who need abortions not being able to get abortions and so, for us, it really feels like every day that goes by that we’re not getting this work out and promoting this hotline is a day that could really shake someone’s life in a drastic way,” Draper said.
To get the campaign out quickly, Meryl Draper said the agencies and companies involved worked in sequence like a relay race, starting with Thread Creative, which wrote the tagline, “It’s your call,” and developed the campaign messaging before passing it on to Quirk.
Emily Draper, associate creative director at Quirk, told us the team that worked on the campaign chose to focus the creative direction on comforting “people who are currently in a moment of crisis.” She said the goal was to show those considering an abortion that “their experience [is] not unusual and that they [aren’t] alone,” as well as “give them the resources they needed to plan an abortion no matter what state they [are] in.”
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Burns Entertainment brought Najimy on board, while Mophonics handled the background music, according to Draper. The finished ad was then passed off to Apollo Partners, AdTechCares, and InMobi—all of which helped secure free and donated media placements for the ad, ranging from CTV placements to OOH banners. Marketing agency Obviously also helped secure volunteer creators to post about the campaign.
The goal, according to Eric Perko, founder of Apollo Partners, is to reach more than 5 million people with donated media, specifically targeting women ages 18–50 in “states where abortions are highly regulated,” like Missouri, Kentucky, and Louisiana. He confirmed that campaign success will be measured based on impressions, video views, and donated media value.
Shortly after the start of the campaign in September, Meryl Draper said she received a LinkedIn message from someone who saw it and wanted to get involved in the coalition. While there are no plans to formalize the coalition at present, Draper said she’s received inquiries from people looking to replicate the match-program model with other causes, like gun safety.
While taking on pro bono work sometimes meant working nights and weekends, Draper said it felt “easy to dedicate time to the stuff that actually matters” and indicated she had no plans to slow down soon.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is the very first step,” she said. “Work, at least, will not rest until there is significant change in this space, and as long as we can apply our resources to change what’s happening in the country, we will.”