The purpose of the campaign was to help Americans view donated items as more than just used objects, but as resources for change that can empower job seekers in their communities and give hope to those struggling to find employment. The campaign objectives included: 1) to increase goods donations to Goodwill, 2) to drive engagement with the Goodwill brand, 3) to elevate donors' preference for Goodwill versus other donation options that are similarly "good" and just as convenient.
In 2015, Goodwill® and the Ad Council launched a new public service advertisement campaign to demonstrate the direct link between the donations of clothes and household items to Goodwill and job creation. Given the relevance of job creation at the time of the campaign's launch, positioning Goodwill as a source that not only gives used goods new life, but also helps create jobs in the local community, allowed the campaign to be both socially and emotionally relevant for viewers – thus increasing the likelihood that viewers will become active donors.
The fully integrated, multimedia campaign features the creative depiction of objects and a timeless speech on employment from Franklin D. Roosevelt, reinforcing how donated goods create – jobs and hope – for the community at large. The simple and informative tagline "Donate Stuff. Create Jobs." provides a deeper understanding of the impact donations have in order to keep up with the growing needs of the communities Goodwill serves. All campaign elements — from broadcast to out of home, print, digital and more — direct audiences to goodwill.org to find their nearest donation center and become job creators in their local communities.
According to a June 2013 Ad Council survey, 7 out of 10 Americans were extremely or very concerned with the issues of jobs and employment. At the time of the campaign's initial 2013 release, 9.1 million Americans were unemployed, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics. The campaign targets adults who are 18 years and older, are infrequent donors (primarily women 35 years and older) and primarily think of Goodwill as a convenient drop-off site but may not yet grasp the full scope of Goodwill's mission.
Goodwill® is a global social services enterprise and the leading nonprofit provider of job training programs and career services in the United States and Canada. To fund its programs, Goodwill sells donated clothes and other household items in more than 3,200 stores and online at shopgoodwill.com®. Goodwill uses the revenue earned from sold donations to help fund job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs.
Using an online continuous tracking survey administered by Ipsos Public Affairs we were able to prove that over the past year, there has been significant growth in familiarity with and preference for Goodwill, as well as an uptick in reported donations. PSA awareness is also driving key attitudes and behaviors, with those aware of the campaign more likely to know Goodwill's mission, and more likely to report donating to Goodwill.
When the same group was asked whether they "regularly or occasionally donate to Goodwill," 72% said yes—up from 65% before February 2015. Additionally, when asked whether they were aware of Goodwill's mission, 48% said yes as opposed to 43% before 2015. Goodwill is currently ranked 19th of the Ad Council's 85 total campaigns.
Media's support of the campaign has been extensive. From January 2015 to June 2016, the campaign has garnered $43.3 million in donated media, with 2.7 billion impressions. After the launch of the new campaign creative in February 2015, general market adults went from 48% being extremely or very familiar with Goodwill to 56%.
Finally, in May 2015, as part of our efforts to drive engagement particularly among young adults, we engaged Chelsea Krost, an influential millennial blogger with nearly 90,000 followers, to host a Twitter chat entitled, "What Millennials Need to Know About the Job Hunt." #MillennialTalk, which featured the "Bike" TV spot, resulted in 30,131,338 timeline deliveries, 448 contributors and 1,614,542 total reach.
