UNited Way National Capital Area
We were tasked with taking a hard look into United Way NCA’s brand recognition and how we could improve their fundraising efforts. Through research, interviews, and data tracking we found revealing insights that ultimately changed their brand narrative entirely. The results were shocking yet not surprising. The existing tagline “Stand for Equity”, was not resonating the way one would hope. In fact, we found that the word “equity” elicited a strong reaction from United Way NCA’s top donors: Even hearing feedback of “Equity means handouts for those who don’t work as hard as I do.” (That’s a direct quote). Furthermore, United Way has struggled to rewrite its narrative as a formerly “pass-through” organization.
The new United Way is a system of their own programs and convening partnerships with funding going directly to fighting for equity in three pillar areas: Health, Economic Opportunity, and Education.
Our goal was to address the perception of the word “Equity”, reintroduce United Way to existing donors, and attract a new generation of equity advocates.
The client fell in love with two different tag lines. Practice Equity leans into action, whereas When none are ignored all will thrive is more anthemic and educational. This led us to many months of testing in the digital and social space. We also took this time to explore the brand’s visual elements to see what attracted the different audiences best.
We found that Gen-Z to Gen-X are more intrigued by Practice Equity as it is mobilizing and engaging, whereas the emotional tone of When none are Ignored, All will thrive resonated best with our existing larger donor population. So we had to figure out how these two worked together, which resulted in the below hierarchy.
what
Lead messaging in Social Media and aimed at new donors.
HOW
The tactical one, two , three punch.
WHY
Lead messaging in brand awareness and towards existing donors.
We launched the new brand tag to start building refreshed brand awareness while working on bringing Practice Equity (which has a much more social flavor) to life.
Practice Equity came to life in a bold primary palette with building-block elements to represent practice, forgiveness and playfulness. Leaving the emotional imagery to be used in brand communications.
Practice Equity launched with a daily practice on social that is 365 posts long. The content is very shareable, engaging, and utilizes facebook, Instagram, Stories, and tik tok to give simple ways to think about equity in your everyday life.
We also partnered with Credly to allow Equity advocates who have taken action, done the work, and proven their commitment to becoming an Equity practitioner, to earn a badge they can display on their professional or social channels.
This season’s must haves - End of the Year Campaign
To capitalize on the season of donation and end-of-the-year giving, UWNCA tasked us with developing a bold experiential piece focused on some of the most needed items for DMV’s ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) population during the holidays. Featured at Pike & Rose among the beautiful storefronts, it asked those doing their holiday shopping to purchase the season’s most needed items by using a QR code. The code allowed the user to purchase specific items, again reinforcing that UWNCA is no longer a pass-through.
This piece won two American Advertising Awards: Best In Show in the OOH category, and a concept Gold.
