Ensure is looking for inspiring and authentic personal stories of people who regularly use Ensure to give themselves the strength and energy to do the things they want to do – every day, and throughout their lives.

Do you know someone 55 or older who is living a full, active life? Someone who won’t let aging or setbacks get in the way of all the things they love to do every day – the things that make them who they are? 

If the person (or couple) you’re thinking of regularly uses Ensure to give themselves the strength and energy they need to pursue their passions every day, Ensure would like to hear about them – in the form of a submission for this project. With your help, we’re hoping to find stories of real Ensure users who live in the United States and will inspire others to defy their birthday-cake candle-count (and the physical setbacks that sometime come with aging) – and take on life every day with a can-do spirit. 

Ultimately, we’ll be asking Tongal filmmakers to capture some of these Stories for a suite of short digital featurettes that will show each person (or couple) as they talk about their daily life, how they came to decide to pursue their passions with a can-do enthusiasm, and how Ensure has helped them along the way.

To help you in your thinking about the kinds of people and stories we’re looking for, we’ve laid out some thoughts below.  Your submissions don’t need to include all of these elements, but these are areas of keen interest for Ensure:

• Overcoming Obstacles: We know that with age, there come some obstacles to doing the things you love. Did your subject ever have to overcome an obstacle? As part of their overall story, think about including something about how that and how they’ve come to be able to do the thngs they love today - both from a physical standpoint, with a mental can-do attitude. It’s important that these obstacles don’t overwhelm the story though, as they’re meant to be inspiring to everyone, so keep that in mind too.
• Couples: We like the idea of finding couples who can tell a story and have fun with some friendly banter about how they’ve arrived at this point in their lives and their relationship.  We’d love to hear about couples who have made the commitment to can-do living at different times (one member of the couple bringing the other along); or, couples where one of the partners has had a setback and needed the other’s help. Any kind of couple will do – married couples, significant others, friends, brothers or sisters. Even a person and his or her pet will work! If you’ve got a couple and both are users of Ensure, that’s great!
• Moments of Truth: We’d love to incorporate moments where the subject(s) recognized that they needed to make a decision and commit to a more proactive lifestyle.  This could be something they decided to do for themselves – or, for others. 
• Engagement: We know that people living a can-do life often touch the lives of many others. As part of your story, we’d love to hear how they are engaged with their friends, families, and the people in their community (however broadly that community may reach).  We also would love stories where friends or family members who have benefited from (or helped) the subjects pursuing their “can-do” lives.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• All Story submissions must feature real people, aged 55 or older, who live in the United States and who regularly use Ensure. No actors.
• Submissions should include a brief summary of who this person is, what their story is, and where they are based. Submissions must also include a photo of the participating individual, but you also have the option to upload a video of the individual, as well as an optional biography. Winners may be subject to a background check.
• The Winning Story Subjects *may* have their Story filmed by a Tongal filmmaker, and if so will be featured in a short digital featurette that will have national distribution online.
• Prizing is not dependent on whether or not your Story is ultimately used for a Video.
• Prizing for Stories is not paid until the Winning Story Subject has cooperated fully with Tongal and any filmmaker that may be selected to tell their story. 
• When submitting on someone else’s behalf, please note that the subject must agree to participate for no compensation beyond the Story award. If a Story subject’s participation is contingent on a percentage of potential winnings from the Video phase and/or an additional casting fee then, they are not eligible to participate.

Check out more details below…

The goal of this project is to source inspiring and authentic personal stories featuring people who are continuing to do the activities that they love and define themselves with - and understand that nutrition (including their regular use of Ensure) helps them have the strength and energy to do so. All Story submissions must feature real people, aged 55 or older, who live in the United States and who regularly use Ensure - that means no actors.

The key goal here is to capture attention in a cluttered market. To do this, Ensure wants to clearly establish the idea of what it means to be a Can-Do person who engages in meaningful everyday activities. It’s important for these stories to be emotionally engaging and interesting enough to drive deeper engagement. They want to tell compelling stories about people who are aspirational for the age group using Ensure (aged 50 years and up), and also discourage the perception that Ensure is only for those who are elderly.

The brand also wants to give consumers new ways to interact with Ensure, and new reasons to share information about the brand with their friends and family.

For additional help to frame the people and the stories we’re trying to document, we ask that you refer to the Manifesto Statement included in the project assets.

--Tone: 

• Inspiring, authentic, relatable, positive, empowering, and emotionally engaging.
• Ensure, as a brand, is: a source of optimism for those fighting a health issue; inspiration for people trying to maintain their roles in life; supportive, knowledgeable, trustworthy; a way to get healthier; a positive force in your healthcare regimen; a leader in innovative, science-based nutrition; engaging, relevant, modern; approachable, genuine, human.

--Exposure: 

• The featurettes derived from the Winning Stories are intended for use on the brand’s digital and social channels, including Facebook and YouTube, as well as on the brand’s website, and may also be used in other marketing materials including print ads and shopper materials.

This Project will be worth a total of $8,000 and consist of 1 Phase: a Story Phase. Be sure to read the following information carefully as well as the Official Rules.

PHASE 1: STORY – Submit an inspiring and authentic personal story of someone who regularly uses Ensure in 500 characters or less. All Story submissions MUST include where this person is based, along with a photo of the participating individual. You also have an option to upload a supporting video of the individual, as well as an optional biography, though neither is required. Winners may be subject to a background check.

The winning Story submissions will receive $2000 each after the filming of their story is completed. 

• IF YOU ARE SUBMITTING A STORY ON YOUR OWN BEHALF, YOUR PAYMENT IS CONTINGENT UPON YOUR PARTICIPATION AND COOPERATION WITH TONGAL AND ANY FILMMAKER THAT MAY BE SELECTED TO TELL YOUR STORY IN A FEATURETTE FOR THE SPONSOR.  YOU WILL RECEIVE $2000 UPON COMPLETION OF THE FEATURETTE, AND YOUR COMPLETION OF THE WINNER’S AFFIDAVIT, IP ASSIGNMENT, AND (IF YOU ARE APPEARING ON SCREEN), THE TALENT RELEASE.
• IF YOU ARE SUBMITTING A STORY ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE, YOUR PAYMENT IS CONTINGENT UPON HIS/HER PARTICIPATION. YOU WILL RECEIVE $500 AND THE SUBJECT WILL RECEIVE $1500 UPON COMPLETION OF THE VIDEO AND THE SUBJECT’S COMPLETION OF THE WINNER’S AFFIDAVIT, IP ASSIGNMENT, AND IF THE SUBJECT IS APPEARING ON SCREEN, THE TALENT RELEASE.
• If you are submitting your own Story and are selected as a finalist, you will be required to provide this Story Cooperation Agreement (Story Owner’s Submission)  . THIS IS NOT REQUIRED FOR INITIAL SUBMISSION.
• If you are submitting on behalf of someone else and are selected as a finalist, you will be required to provide this Story Cooperation Agreement (Submission On Another’s Behalf)  . THIS IS NOT REQUIRED FOR INITIAL SUBMISSION.

FILMMAKERS WILL BE SELECTED FOR THE DIGITAL FEATURETTES IN A SEPARATE PROJECT THAT WILL LAUNCH IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE WINNING STORIES ARE SELECTED HERE.  THE FILMMAKER IS NOT REQUIRED TO OFFER ANY COMPENSATION TO THE SUBJECT.

1. Unless provided otherwise, all work must be your own original creation and free of any copyrighted material. You shall provide detailed information of your work regarding the source, the creator and background information as requested by Tongal.

2. BY SUBMITTING AN ENTRY, YOUR SUBMISSION IMMEDIATELY BECOMES THE SOLE PROPERTY OF TONGAL OR ITS ASSIGNEES – SEE OFFICIAL RULES FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES. YOU MAY NOT PUBLICLY SHARE OR PUBLISH YOUR SUBMISSION IN ANY MANNER AND YOU MAY NOT POST OR UPLOAD YOUR SUBMISSION TO ANY WEBSITE OR  (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE OR VIMEO), WITHOUT THE PRIOR EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF TONGAL.  FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS REQUIREMENT MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF YOUR ENTRY IN THE PROJECT.

3. Submissions cannot contain any profanity, offensive language, nudity or otherwise objectionable material, the determination of which is solely at the discretion of Sponsor.

4. Submissions must not portray Sponsor in a negative way, the determination of which will solely reside with Sponsor.

5. By submitting to this project, you acknowledge that your work may become subject to public voting on the Tongal site. Public voting may be used to help the project sponsor determine the final rank order.

6. Limit 5 submissions per member, per Phase.

7. You must be at least thirteen (13) years or older to enter.

8. In the event that fewer than 100 Ideas are received, the Sponsor reserves the right to repost the contest for up to fourteen (14) days at their discretion.

9. Winners must complete the standard Tongal W-9, Winner Affidavit, and IP Assignment.

10. See OFFICIAL RULES for additional contest information, terms and conditions. If there is any conflict or inconsistency between these requirements and the Official Rules, the terms and conditions of these requirements shall prevail.