The Campaign

Unlimited Dreams set out to be different from other charity campaigns, where sympathy and pity toward children with disabilities are the focus. Instead, the campaign conveyed a powerful message that once we rip “disabled’ out of “people”, we will realize we all share unlimited dreams. We created and disseminated materials about the issue on a broader scale, encompassing disability at birth, being marginalized while growing up, limited access to public services and employment and other opportunities, and social stigma. In media interviews and other activities, the campaign cited relevant facts and figures, along with compelling photos encapsulating the plight of the disabled.

Creative Execution

The campaign’s centerpiece —a short original film titled, “Unlimited Dreams” – was launched, narrating the hopes and dreams of three exuberant children. For each video view within the first two months the Foundation donated one baht to support projects that help inspire children with disabilities. The film was followed up by extensive activities through all communication channels from paid, earned, owned and shared platforms to trigger social engagement and action, connecting with major influencers and members of corporate communities to create a more progressive outlook about disability. Following, Vejdusit Foundation hosted an inspirational festival All Access Fest, aimed to stimulate imagination and enhance children with disabilities’ learning skills through hands-on activities. A second film “The Hero” continued the Unlimited Dreams theme of the campaign, this time featuring two young people whose story shows that ‘there is a Superheo inside us all’.

The campaign earned USD1.1 million worth of PR value in coverage by more than 100 media across all channels. Most importantly the campaign has driven the media and private sector to focus on the disability issue, while the government has started to get serious about enforcing inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce. On 16 February, 2016, the Ministry of Labor reiterated the importance of employing people with disabilities and its commitment to disabled people representing 1% of the workforce. All of this has seen some 28,000 more people with disabilities finding employment representing a 27% increase. After the campaign launch, donations to Vejdusit Foundation increased by more than 40%.

Vejdusit Foundation, under Thailand’s largest medical service network (Bangkok Dusit Medical Services) chose to help put children with disabilities on a more hopeful path to a brighter future. BDMS had witnessed the huge barriers that people with disabilities and their families face. In response we developed and implemented a comprehensive integrated communication strategy to foster equality and participation by creating social opportunities for the underprivileged in Thailand, inspiring society to realize that dreams can be realized despite the barriers. The campaign sought to change Thai society’s perception towards people with disabilities and foster a society of equality and participation.

Spurred by the aim to strike a chord among people, raise awareness about the plight of the disabled, change mindsets of people toward disability, develop a collective opinion, and trigger action, the campaign adopted a strategic direction: SHout, SHow, SHare, SHake. SHout – Talk about the current issue that people with disabilities, although capable, remain overlooked and underutilized. Consequently, they have limited career choices. SHow – Elicit understanding and compassion by showing the general audience that everyone in this society has dreams and dreams are never disabled or limited. SHare – Build awareness and relationships through integrated social media and communication channels to trigger social engagement among target audiences. SHake – Change public perception and create a new progressive outlook/opinion about disability in the society.