brad van schaik

Children's Wish Foundation:
King Jay

Here’s a snapshot of this campaign from Global News Edmonton. The full story is below. It’s worth the read cuz It’s fire.

A small wish turned into a powerful brand.

The Children’s Wish Foundation introduced us to Jayden Strauss, an 18 year old diagnosed with a rare, terminal form of muscle tissue cancer. His wish was set to become the 25,000th granted by the organization.

After learning what Jayden’s wish was, Children’s wish turned to us for help.

It was a challenging ask to say the least. Jayden wanted to design a custom pair of Nike shoes, made from pieces of his six favourite Nike designs. Let’s just say, it’s the most clear yet challenging brief I’ve ever seen.

After a Long search, the team found a concept artist and a custom shoe designer/hacker called PROOF CULTURE.

After being briefed, the two worked around the clock, rushing to bring an impossible pair of shoes to life, as Jayden’s health grew worse every day. I’ll refrain from being dramatic and just say that they finished the shoes and they were insanely good.

They were delivered in a custom box to Jayden. Then, something remarkable happened.

Jayden’s called us soon after his son received the shoes. He told us that Jayden laced them from his hospital bed, put both feet on the ground, and walked for the first time in days; he walked 200 feet up and down the halls in the hospital showing them off to the staff who had been taking care of him.

Jayden was an inspiring kid and we wanted him to know that his fire would never go out. While we had already granted his wish, we wanted to help him build his legacy.

It was the fire in his fight that inspired the “King Jay” brand. We developed it to tell Jayden’s story, to inspire wish kids like him who needed a little fire to keep them going, and to fund more wishes in the future.

“Together is stronger” became the King Jay tagline and was a concept fused into the design of the brand’s principle product.

A line of Ts and sweaters each rock one of three custom shoelace designs that connect all of those who wear them. The laces enter one side of the shirt and exit out the other, creating the opportunity for infinite connections. Jayden was presented with the first shirt , along with some other custom swag that was custom made for him.

Like any big apparel brand, King Jay needed a badass launch spot, an e-comm website, and an influencer campaign.

So we made that stuff too. The work in each medium encouraged people to “Join The Kingdom” buy buying King Jay swag. All proceeds would go back, and still do to this day, to the Children’s Wish Foundation to help grant more wishes.

Thousands rallied behind the brand, including some pretty recognizable faces.

With the help of The Children’s Wish Foundation, we reached out and sent swag to some big names. We do this a lot in marketing, and often never hear back from people. However, this one caught fire. Even one of Jayden’s favourite NBA teams, the Miami Heat, sent him a video of them rocking his gear.

Jayden’s legacy still burns today. his brand continues to give hope to kids suffering from life-threatening illnesses. and proceeds still help grant more wishes.

Buy a shirt or two if you want, at kingjay.org. Or, you could always get a tat. ;)