MADD BALL 2025
/2024
Industry: Charity Fundraising Event Campaign
Business Type: Established Partnership (Madd Loans + Queensland Children's Hospital Foundation)
Services Provided: Complete Campaign Identity, Visual Identity, Logo Suite, Style Guidelines, Signage, Brand Activations, Website, Creative Direction, Social Media Templates, Posters, Banners, Advertising Materials, Supporting Graphics Suite
Timeline: 3 months
Campaign Duration: 18-month marketing lead time
The Challenge
Picture this: You've just pulled off a wildly successful charity ball that raised $200,000 for sick kids and their families. The Circus Spectacular theme was a raging success. Now you're back for round three and the stakes are even higher.
Madd Loans, through their Madd Giving Back initiative, partners with Queensland Children's Hospital Foundation for a biennial charity ball that's become one of Brisbane's most anticipated events. Since 2022, they'd raised over $321,000. But here's the thing about success: it sets expectations.
For their third event in October 2025, they needed a complete campaign identity built around a brand new theme… A Night in Positano. And they needed it with an 18-month runway to market the event, attract sponsors, sell tickets and build anticipation.
Starting from zero. Again.
Specific Pain Points:
~ Tia Niarhos, Operations Manager at Madd Loans
Strategic Discovery
Here's what makes the Madd Ball different from every other charity gala filling Brisbane's calendar.
It's not just another black-tie fundraiser where you write a cheque and forget about it. It's a community coming together for one genuinely enjoyable night where everyone gets to give back, have fun and celebrate being together. That difference matters.
Key Strategic Insights:
What We Built
✿ The Campaign Identity:
We lovingly pushed them to see what we were seeing. They were already living as the hype girls of the marketing world. Already cheerleading for their clients like business besties. Already making marketing feel fWe needed to transport guests from Brisbane to the Amalfi Coast. Create an experience so immersive that for one night, you're genuinely standing on the shores of Positano with vibrant colours, enchanting atmosphere and irresistible Italian charm surrounding you.
Forget about pretty visuals alone. It's about creating a campaign identity strong enough to carry an 18-month marketing push. From the first social post announcing the theme to the moment guests walk through the doors in October 2025, every single touchpoint needed to whisper "Positano."
✿ Visual Identity:
Built a complete Amalfi Coast inspired aesthetic. Sun-drenched Mediterranean colours. The warm glow of Italian coastal sunsets. Vibrant lemons and bougainvillea. Terracotta and ocean blues. Every design element captures that feeling of standing on a cliffside overlooking the sea, glass of Aperol in hand, warm breeze on your skin.
Created a comprehensive logo suite adapting to every possible application. From Instagram stories to 3-metre-tall banners to the website hero. Style guidelines ensuring every committee member, sponsor and supporter could create content that felt cohesively Positano.
✿ Digital Infrastructure:
Built a complete website at maddball.com.au showcasing the vision, selling tickets, attracting sponsors and telling the story of why this night matters. Social media template suite letting the team create consistent content throughout the 18-month campaign. Everything optimised for the long game of building anticipation and selling out the event.
✿ Physical Experience:
Designed signage transforming the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre into Positano. Brand activations creating photo moments guests'll share on socials. Posters and banners for sponsor locations. Advertising materials for print and digital. Every piece working together to create that immersive Italian experience.
Additional Deliverables:
The Transformation
A Night in Positano hasn't happened yet (it's October 2025), but the campaign's already smashing records.
Campaign Impact:
Before → After:
The Journey:
Or, in Madd’s words…
"From the very beginning Sarah took the time to really get to know us and what makes Madd so unique. I loved how she was able to translate our energy, values and story into our branding. What stood out most is how she listened to us and worked with us through feedback, always open to jumping on a call or Teams meeting to run through things. We trust her to deliver every time and her work has made such a difference because everything we put out now feels consistent and aligned. We love working with her and are so grateful for everything she's done, thank you Sarah!"
~ Tia Niarhos, Operations Manager at Madd Loans
What Emerged…
This case study reveals something important about campaign identity work. It's not just about making things look pretty for one night.
The Madd Ball's success isn't in the decorations or the Instagram-worthy moments (though those do matter). It's in how the campaign identity helps them grow impact year after year. From that first event to $200,000 at the second, heading toward even higher goals for the third. Well over triple their donation dollar value across three events.
That growth doesn't happen by accident. It happens when you've got brand infrastructure strong enough to carry ambitious goals. When every touchpoint, from the first announcement to the moment guests walk through the doors, consistently communicates "this night matters, and you want to be part of it."
The Madd Ball proves that charity events don't have to feel obligatory. They can be genuinely exciting. Genuinely fun. And still raise life-changing money for kids who desperately need it. Sometimes the best campaigns are the ones that make giving back feel less like duty and more like celebration. That's what blooms when purpose meets beautiful execution.
