STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION PORTFOLIO
Welcome Home Kit Marketing Plan
Creating a campaign that appeals to Millennials and Zoomers and affirms the humanity and agency of people transitioning into housing.
Contract role, summer through fall 2022.
STRATEGY
“This campaign will focus on reaching Millennials and Zoomers in the Portland metro area to improve the amount and rate of donations to the Welcome Home Kit initiative. This will also fulfill three secondary goals: Increasing brand equity for the Welcome Home Kit, increasing the reach of Our Just Future, and diversifying the donor base of Our Just Future.”
The Welcome Home Kit is an initiative of Our Just Future that supports people moving into affordable housing. Each Welcome Home Kit is a $500 gift card that provides households the opportunity to purchase needed items as they make the transition into housing. This can include food, towels, bedding, or other items that will support their well-being and make their housing into a home. These gift cards are purchased with donations from the general public—but Our Just Future wanted to diversify its donor base.
So, my colleague Krystal Eldridge and I joined forces again (we previously worked together at the Xerces Society) to create a campaign to increase donations for the Welcome Home Kit and diversify the demographics of Our Just Future’s donors. We decided to target Millennials (Gen Y) and Zoomers (Gen Z), since they are younger than the average nonprofit donor, and are the most racially and ethnically diverse generations in United States history. These generations are also approaching their peak buying power, so they would be at a stage in life where they can make an impact for nonprofits as donors. (Happily, I had recently taken J616: Strategic Communication Marketing and extensively researched Millennials’ donor preferences and buying behaviors.)
I created this multiplatform marketing plan with the understanding that the Welcome Home Kit is inherently appealing to Millennials and Zoomers; it just needs to be explained in an accessible manner. Addressing systemic racism and supporting people experiencing housing instability are not just abstractions to Millennials and Zoomers. They are experiencing these challenges firsthand and are they clear-eyed about the potential for conditions to worsen if definitive action is not taken. Accordingly, Millennials and Zoomers are progressive, politically active, and want to invest in causes that make a tangible impact. As an organization with a deep commitment to equity, Our Just Future is well-positioned to appeal to these audiences.
Millennials and Zoomers are widely regarded as fickle, with low brand loyalty. Although by some measures this is true, I would argue that it is a more nuanced issue. Millennials and Zoomers are loyal to their values, and want to find trustworthy organizations that embody their beliefs. If an organization can consistently make those values manifest in their work—and be truthful when they fall short—then Millennials and Zoomers will be loyal to them. From progressive policies to people-first language, Our Just Future is already there. It’s just a matter of reaching Millennials and Zoomers where they are (primarily Instagram and video-based platforms like TikTok and YouTube) and explaining it in an accessible manner.
Millennials and Zoomers have shown themselves to be interested in authenticity (showing an imperfect, happy home is more compelling to young audiences than a pristine household), customization (they’d understand the power of a $500 gift card to transform the living space and outlook of people transitioning into housing), and experiences over objects (what home goods represent is compelling to them: warmth, safety, comfort, etc.).
Leveraging this information—and a plethora of additional audience research—I built a multiplatform marketing plan that:
Emphasized the most appealing attributes of the Welcome Home Kit (based on Millennials’ and Zoomers’ values),
Provided clear information about how donor funds are used (per the target audiences’ interest in trust and transparency),
Streamlined both the delivery of information and the donation process (making it appealing to these digital generations), and
Underscored it all with eye-catching, modern design.
DESIGN
“The continuous nature of the line drawings will help to unify the image, convey harmony in the household, and create a sense of movement that guides the viewer’s eye through the piece.”
The visual design of Welcome Home Kit collateral was deeply influenced by brand standards and the strategic objectives outlined in the Strategy section. Color palettes came straight from Our Just Future’s new branding (designed by Krystal). Since the organization had just gone through a significant rebranding process, we wanted to reinforce their new visual language. Undulating, curved lines and big blocks of color were influenced by the organization’s new logo.
Social media images for this campaign depict authentic, comfortable home environments. The spaces are intentionally imperfect but visually balanced. Lines guide the viewer’s eye throughout the composition. This sense of movement conveys vitality while also creating visual and conceptual harmony. The illustration style is reflective of current trends in digital illustration, especially those pertaining to domestic environments. A modern, eye-catching style will signal to Millennials and Zoomers that this campaign was made with them in mind.
The people depicted in these images reflect the diversity of Our Just Future’s participants: people of various races, ethnicities, and cultures; people with physical disabilities; people of a variety of genders and sexual orientations; people of various ages; and an assortment of household members (e.g., multigenerational homes, couples, friend groups, individuals, etc.). In addition to being accurate, this will also appeal to Millennials and Zoomers, who are more politically and socially progressive, more diverse, and more likely to define family in expansive ways (e.g., friends or “chosen family”).
The items pictured are a mix of “essentials” like cleaning supplies, bedding, and kitchen wares, and “luxuries” like houseplants and nice furniture. This is intended to break down preconceptions many people hold about what constitutes a “necessity,” which can complicate the donation process at many nonprofits. The Welcome Home Kit is revolutionary in its simplicity: people moving into affordable housing get to choose their own items. They know what they want and need. They know what will make a space feel like home, and they deserve to experience that. This will also coincide nicely with Millennials’ and Zoomers’ progressive values, and their interest in customized services.
Finally, these pieces show that household items are a pathway to experiences like warmth, comfort, and connection. Although Millennials and Zoomers are pragmatic and practical (they have to be, considering the sheer amount of economic crises that have marked their young lives), they ultimately value experiences over objects. They don’t care about having designer pots and pans; they care about having enough equipment and food to create a lovely meal with their family.