New York City - 5 Boroughs
Drove the largest recruitment of male mentors in the history of Big Brothers Big sisterS NYC
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challenge
Despite being one of the oldest nonprofits in NYC, Big Brothers Big Sisters has faced decades of decline for male volunteers.
In New York City, for every 3 boys, there is only 1 male mentor. Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC needed a campaign that reflected what a modern big brother actually looks like — one that could reach the Bronx and expand outward across boroughs and language communities, rather than a single generic citywide push.
solution
ciaooo! Media concepted and produced Be Bronx Be Big: a photoshoot and creative campaign built natively for five distinct demographic communities — Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Spanish, and French Creole.
The campaign partnered with influential New Yorkers across the boroughs and launched across social, streaming, the BBBS website, LinkNYC, and IRL activations — meeting mentors where they already were, in the language they already spoke.
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We launched a 360 digital campaign to drive awareness using influencers, content, paid ads, and in-person activations.
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We crafted the copy and design, curating a website solely for the purpose of getting men to sign up for the CTA.
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Partnering with local community organizations and male NYC influencers, we negotiated and directed content for our campaign.
RESULTS
600%
increase in signups from male mentors
6+
years creative partnership
500K+
impressions
208%
increase in clicks
the approach
We started with an audit, surveying existing mentors to understand what was actually holding men back from signing up. The insight: men were more willing to volunteer when they could navigate the process through trusted partners, not a cold institutional ask.
That insight shaped the whole strategy. To reach mentors from every side, we combined social, out-of-home, press, and influencer outreach — and to redefine what volunteering could look like, we partnered with millennial community leaders including The Bronx Native and South Asian comedian Anish K. Mitra to generate buzz around the campaign.
But buzz wasn't the goal — finding people who'd actually make great big brothers was. We partnered with local groups like Run for Chinatown to host running meetups, and launched digital billboards across the five boroughs to put the campaign directly in front of our target demographic.
results
Big Brothers Big Sisters saw a 600% increase in sign-ups after the campaign's launch.
The most in BBBS NYC’s history.
