Defining Help

Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only free, 24/7 mental health support service for young people. As demand for youth mental health support surged, a critical challenge emerged: many adults misunderstood what Kids Help Phone actually does. The name suggested emergencies only—when, in reality, young people reach out for help across the full spectrum of their lives.

Defining Help set out to reframe what “help” truly means to the youth who use the service every day.

Using anonymized conversation data, we transformed thousands of real reasons young people reach out into a living definition of help—reimagining the Kids Help Phone name again and again to reflect its many meanings. From everyday worries to life-altering moments, the campaign showed that help isn’t one thing—it’s everything.

Data also guided when and where the work appeared, ensuring the message showed up in moments when emotions were most relevant across media, environments, and culture.

At the center of the campaign, we redefined one of the most iconic calls for help ever written. “Help!” by The Beatles was transformed into a modern-day anthem for youth mental health, transitioning from the original opening into a contemporary cover. The resulting film brought real experiences to life through scenes inspired directly by conversation data—defining help not through explanation, but through emotion.

Hi, I’m Pedro Izzo — a Brazilian-Canadian and currently the Creative Director, Design at McCann Canada. I’ve spent almost 20 years in advertising and design, working with amazing teams at agencies like Performance Art, Cossette, CP+B, Leo Burnett, and Sid Lee. Along the way, my work’s picked up recognition at some of the biggest award shows around the world.

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#2  Art Director in 2016 - Strategy

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