From Ken Messinger, SVP, Creative Director, Palio

Who in their right mind would wake up early on a rainy, cold Saturday morning in order to rake someone else’s property — for free?

The people of Palio and their friends and family!

This past weekend, a group of 20 gave up a good part of their Saturday to help prepare the Double H Ranch for their summer campers.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “What is it about the Double H Ranch that would compel the fine people at Palio, who work so hard all week, to give up a significant part of their weekend?” And, “Why would they drag their friends and families in to this as well?” And, “Why in the world would they volunteer to paint cabins, clear ball fields, rake huge expanses of wooded land, or who knows what else that might be asked of them?”

Glad you asked.

The Double H Ranch (which is also a pro bono client of Palio’s) was founded by Charles Woods and Paul Newman as one of Paul Newman’s “Hole in the Wall” camps, which are the world’s largest family of camps for children with serious illnesses and life-threatening conditions such as cancer, sickle cell anemia, HIV/AIDS, and many other conditions. While at camp, these children discover the joys of childhood often missed during extended medical treatment, without compromising any of their medical needs thanks to on-site, state-of-the-art medical care.

All children attend the Double H Ranch free of charge as a result of generous contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and other organizations.

The Double H Ranch (the “H” stands for Health and Happiness) sits on 320 beautifully wooded acres that include the fish-friendly Lake Vanare. Each summer, the Double H Ranch provides fun, support, and adventure for approximately 1000 children. Activities include horseback riding, creative arts, a high-rope challenge course, boating, swimming, and, of course, much, much more. The Double H also offers year-round, family-based support programs as well as an adaptive ski program throughout the winter months.

So why have we worked with the Double H Ranch for all these years? Because volunteering for this, or so many other worthy causes, makes you focus on the important things in life, like helping others, being selfless, and becoming part of a community instead of just living in one.

And, it makes us happy.

For more information about the Double H Ranch, visit http://www.doublehranch.org/partners.html

From Jeremy Lichtenberger, Senior Brand Planner, Palio

It’s no surprise that when charities and pro bono organizations advertise their services, they take a serious tone. We often see very real images of starving children in impoverished nations struggling to survive, and it pulls at our heartstrings.

As advertisers, we know this approach is usually necessary to get the seriousness of the message across. But Ben Stiller is not an advertiser, nor does he admit to “know anything about raising money.” What he does know is how to capture an audience’s attention and make them side with the lovable loser characters he creates in his genius comedies such as Meet the Parents and Zoolander.

So about a year ago when he wanted to start a charity that would raise funds to build schools in the poor nation of Haiti, he used his unique skills and founded “Stiller Strong,” along with the motto “Stealing great ideas from other charities to build schools in Haiti.”

Stiller Strong.org is a very serious charitable organization with a very not-so-serious delivery of its message. Stiller, of course, clearly ripped off the name from the popular and successful “Live Strong” campaign by Nike and Lance Armstrong, which was established to raise money for cancer research. Established in 1997, the Live Strong campaign started selling yellow rubber wrist bands for supporters to demonstrate their dedication.

This idea became tremendously trendy as many other charities followed suit. The yellow and black branding of Live Strong was blatantly stolen by Stiller Strong – along with headbands and wrist bands to boot – and it is an absolutely genius display of marketing. Stiller began promoting his organization and showing off his branding on late-night television and through viral videos, and played it up as having no relation at all to Armstrong’s campaign. In one promotional event, Stiller was featured on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien in full Stiller Strong garb. During the interview, Conan just so happened to get Lance Armstrong live via satellite to discuss with Stiller his disappointment with the brand. It’s a hysterical skit and was a great plug for Stiller Strong because he makes you want to go to the Web site and check out what he is doing.

The site is full of videos including A-list celebrities such as Owen Wilson, Ryan Seacrest, and even former President Bill Clinton. Sadly, the recent and very horrific earthquake in Haiti has demolished the school Stiller Strong was building. In light of these events, the organization has undertaken a new mission to establish temporary schooling for the children of Haiti displaced by the earthquake. Stiller knew the importance of helping this country before the earthquake of January 2010, and his message is even more important now.

The genius of this brand is not the use of star power to gain attention, but the use of comedy as a way to maintain attention and to differentiate the organization from others like it. Take a visit to StillerStrong.org; if it looks familiar, well, that’s the point.