From a relatively unknown school for autism
To a groundbreaking organization changing the world.
CHALLENGE
Founded in 1975, NECC has grown into a global leader in autism education, research, and technology. In the relatively anonymous town of Southborough, MA they have redefined how autism is treated, studied and researched. While they’ve impacted the lives of literally tens of thousands of children and families, they remain largely anonymous. Our brief was simple. “Make us the Jimmy Fund for Autism. Drive awareness and put us on par with some of the biggest names in science."
STRATEGY
Our strategy was to humanize autism. Psychologically, people don’t want to talk or think about difficult things like death, cancer and yes, autism. This is the biggest barrier to overcome when dealing with a subject matter as sensitive as this. But we felt that if we could make the subject approachable — offering conversational relatability, a light-hearted tone and a genuine feeling of empathy, we would be able to capture eyes and ears.
CREATIVE SOLUTION
We created a global brand platform called “One Powerful Place” which positions the NECC as a harbinger for global impact in the field of autism and education. We launched this platform with a 4+ minute short film, narrated by Jon Stewart. Taking on an optimistic, human tone, it reflected on the amazing, historical impact the NECC has had and looked forward to the power of the next 50 years.
COLLABORATORS
Jon Stewart
Stebs
Company 3
Soundtrack
Above Summit
"The New England Center for Children is a hybrid special-education school, global non-profit, and research and training institute, a combination, albeit worthy, that doesn’t naturally lend itself to witty or wry filmmaking.
However, in One Powerful Place, Colossus’ intricate film for the organisation, information is delivered with the same degree of character and care found across the people who keep the centre running."
