Aligning your brand with impactful, authentic, and globally resonant campaigns is essential in today’s environment. Cutting through the noise to ignite genuine empathy and drive action requires a bold, values-driven approach.
CARE has an 80-year legacy of global development and humanitarian aid, making it a benchmark for trust and effectiveness. Yet, even legacy organizations must constantly evolve their message. CARE recently launched its provocative new brand campaign, “Who Cares?” which premiered on the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)—a strategic move designed to challenge the status quo and remind global leaders of their core mission.
Monica Rowe, Chief Marketing Officer at CARE, shares the strategic thinking behind the campaign—from its timely origin amid sector-wide aid cuts to the intentional choice of celebrating local heroes over overwhelming statistics. You’ll gain insights into how a global organization modernizes its message to reaffirm trust, galvanize partners, and create a strong foundation for long-term impact. The lessons here can inform your own brand and partnership strategies in the social good space.
EFG: You recently launched a new brand campaign, “Who Cares?” that premiered at the United Nations General Assembly. Can you share a little behind the impetus for the campaign and the importance of launching it during the UNGA?
Monica Rowe (MR): About a year ago we conducted extensive brand research and developed a new CARE brand platform entitled “CARE, Always There.” This new brand identity reasserts our 80-year legacy of being the largest and longest-serving humanitarian organization that shows up wherever CARE is needed, no matter what. The first major public expression of that platform became “Who Cares?”, a provocative and timely creative idea born out of a rapidly changing environment. When drastic aid cuts occurred earlier this year it sent shockwaves through the sector. We knew we had to act, not retreat. The question “Who Cares?” became both a rallying cry and a challenge—to remind the world that CARE does, and to invite others to stand with us.
The decision to launch during the United Nations General Assembly was highly intentional. UNGA is a global moment when world leaders, policy makers, and influencers are talking about the very issues we tackle every day—poverty, humanitarian crisis, and climate resilience. We wanted to ensure our voice was part of that dialogue, not on the sidelines. Our media strategy was designed to reach our core audience with high-impact placements in The New York Times, The Daily podcast, Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus podcast and AARP. All have delivered both reach and resonance, far exceeding our expectations in visibility and conversation. People were talking about CARE in a fresh, relevant way.
EFG: The campaign description emphasizes shining a spotlight on local heroes. Why did CARE decide to center its staff and local partners, rather than focusing on large-scale global statistics or the organization itself, for this new brand approach?
MR: Big numbers get lost. It is hard for people to imagine they can solve the problems of millions. At CARE, we believe the best storytelling is telling a strong story of one person that can represent many. We are very proud that 97% of our staff are from the countries where our work is needed the most. They, and our program participants, understand the problems they face and are best positioned to tell us how they plan to solve them. We have an ad that features a man named Luis who, when a cyclone flooded Mozambique, jumped into action with his fishing boat and started saving people in his community. This is a story many can relate to, people helping people during a crisis. These are the everyday heroes who need to be in the spotlight.
EFG: CARE’s mission is already highly trusted. How does this new approach to bold storytelling and creative work reaffirm that trust, especially with a new audience?
MR: For 80 years, CARE has been there, every day and in times of crisis helping others. Our story started with sending the world’s first ever CARE PACKAGES after World War II. We have been at the leading edge of how development has evolved over time. Our staff are locally-based, so they have built a solid foundation of community trust. Through the “WHO CARES” campaign, we are reaffirming that by working alongside our local community leaders who are already there, already effective, and always accountable, change is possible .
EFG: How is the “Who Cares?” message being delivered and customized by your local CARE offices and partners around the world?
MR: Excitement across our organization is palpable. Our Country Offices have been very supportive and are helping to provide stories to bring the campaign to life. We also developed brand toolkits and templates so they can take up the mantle in a single CARE voice and amplify the brand worldwide.
EFG: You work to strengthen local institutions so they can prepare for future shocks. How does celebrating individual local leaders actually bolster the institutional capacity and long-term sustainability of the programs they lead?
MR: Great question. If our staff are the heart of CARE’s work, our local partners are the soul. We’re only as strong as they are. Strengthening their capacity means investing not just in systems and skills, but in visibility, credibility, and confidence. When we celebrate the people driving change in their own communities, we help elevate their voices, attract resources, and build trust in the institutions they represent. That recognition reinforces their legitimacy and influence long after the spotlight fades.
Photos: CARE
EFG: Given the launch during UNGA, what initial feedback, metrics, or conversations have you seen that confirm the “Who Cares?” campaign is successfully sparking the intended dialogue?
MR: A strong, emotionally grounded brand doesn’t just raise awareness—it builds belief. And belief is what drives action, advocacy, and sustained giving. So far CARE’s “Who Cares?” is overdelivering on every metric, impressions, engagements, conversion and bringing in new supporters. I recently received an email from a long-time CARE supporter who wrote, “Congratulations on the new CARE WHO CARES campaign, it is the strongest message I’ve seen from CARE in a while and it is exactly the right message for this time.”
EFG: This campaign is built to drive momentum into 2026 and beyond. What do you see as the biggest opportunity and the biggest challenge for CARE once the initial media placements and giving events have run their course?
MR: Our biggest opportunity is for our team to do what they do best: constantly learn, test, create, and keep the campaign fresh. As long as we understand our audience insights, tap into culture relevancy, and not be afraid to take risks, I believe the campaign will have a strong shelf life. At the same time, the challenge facing many marketers today is how we balance brand investment with performance to build a strong marketing funnel.
EFG: For other non-profits or social impact leaders, what is the key lesson CARE learned while developing a campaign designed to cut through the noise and ignite empathy on a global scale?
MR: First and foremost, our brand is our biggest asset. We all know that a brand is more than a name. It is all the things that we’ve talked about: a belief, a mutual trust, an assurance that we do what we say we will do. What we chose to do was double down on the notion of care as a verb, not as a name. That cuts to the heart of it, the empathy of it. Especially in a time when we can feel like so much is out of our control. We always have the ability to care. Whether we choose to or not is up to us. We choose to.
To learn more about “Who Care’s,” visit www.care.org/whocares.
