The Journey of a Lifetime

This past St. Patrick’s Day was cause for true celebration. It marked the 25th Anniversary of On Point, one of Chattanooga’s most respected and successful youth development organizations. It was also the day of On Point’s Annual Banquet, which is their biggest fund raising event of the year.

When Maycreate’s creative and account team met with On Point’s president and marketing director to plan for the event, both were looking for an idea that would clearly demonstrate the positive impact On Point’s programs have on a young person’s future. Everyone agreed, it was all about a teen reaching a desired destination after he or she had graduated from high school and On Point.

We knew the organization had a unique ability and approach to helping youth. They cultivated the strengths in teens, empowering and providing them with a positive vision for their future and steps to achieve it. As both agency and client discussed this unique approach, the creative director had a thought. “For teens to reach their goal or destination, they must journey. Find that road or path that will eventually get them there.” This metaphor became the focus of the year’s marketing campaign, as well as the president’s Annual Banquet speech.

The art director assigned to the project, Whitney Mortimer, began work on a Keynote presentation to accompany the president’s speech. She identified a number of inspiring stock shots of roads, paths and walkways that led to a distant horizon. Some horizons were filled with blue sky, sun and promise, others with dark clouds, inherent storms and challenge. Each symbolized the journeys teens would take to reach their intended destinations.

In past campaigns for On Point, Maycreate had featured high school youth that were currently involved in the program. We decided to take a different direction this year. We wanted to focus on graduates and demonstrate, in an unexpected way, the positive impact On Point’s programs had had on their lives.