Wilmer Eye Institute Centennial Celebration

The Wilmer Eye Institute needed to rebrand all of its internal and external communications to reflect the centennial milestone, while also creating new materials in support of the myriad of celebrations taking place throughout the year. While Wilmer has an incredible team of marketing and communications staff, they were already busy with their regular day-to-day needs. Bringing in Sunny Side Creative allowed them to delegate the work and trust that their brand and coordinating marketing materials would safely be managed in the evolution of our work together. For much of it, it was ensuring that the Centennial identity was immediately recognizable and visible, while respecting and highlighting the established Wilmer brand. We also had specific milestones to work toward, knowing that there were multiple events taking place and needed to consider the respective audiences, event goals, and associated materials. For example, the gala celebration was a high-end, grand celebration that needed an elegant touch to all of its coordinating materials, starting with a sponsorship booklet and elegant invitation package, culminating in the event backdrop, program, and signage. We wanted to lean into the brand colors but bring them out in a way that was atypical from how they were regularly used. We were able to expand the color palette and create themes that coordinated with the events, marketing, and communications goals. We also made these brand assets easily available to staff for their own use throughout the campaign. This was a cross-disciplinary campaign that required thorough brand management, creative design and copy, and continuous communication with the client. As a result, we achieved the following: -A 97% attendance rate for gala -An 80% attendance rate for employee event -A 41% average rolling open rate for its weekly Centennial e-newsletter -3.7M impressions, 6830 reactions, and 72 reposts/reshares for Centennial-specific social media content -Banner and video ads exceeding all vendor benchmarks regarding video completion (VCR) and click through rates (CTR). -Raising enough funds to establish an endowment for a new professorship Rooted in a century of pathbreaking vision care, the campaign honored Wilmer’s past while positioning it for the future. From a refined centennial logo to cohesive materials for a gala, staff celebration, and public awareness efforts, every design element worked in harmony to reflect Wilmer’s mission and impact. The result was a campaign that didn’t just celebrate 100 years — it sparked pride, inspired engagement, and elevated the Institute’s visibility across audiences.