Objectives

Voya Financial is a recently launched brand in the financial services category. Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company^®, helping to create a secure financial future for all Americans. One way Voya is achieving that vision is through its commitment to supporting people with special needs, their families, communities, and caregivers.To that end, Voya has implemented several initiatives to serve the special needs community, including Voya Cares™ - a program which helps Americans living with special needs, and their caregivers, plan for the retirement they deserve.

Voya believes ALL Americans deserve a secure financial future. Especially those with special needs who aren't always welcomed into colleges, the workforce, or communities. One in every five Americans has a disability.

To spark a national conversation about fostering inclusion, Voya partnered with Special Olympics to launch Invest in Something Special™. Highlighting the full profile of Special Olympians, Voya encouraged athletes to share their goals beyond sport, helping to showcase the full scope and depth of their aspirations.

Helping to make their aspirations come true, Voya pledged $1 to Special Olympics for every "share" or "like" of the athletes' stories, up to $500,000 – engaging Americans to join in.

The primary business objective was to drive brand awareness for Voya, while also raising awareness about Voya's values in serving all Americans. The goal was to engage with 500,000 people on social media to drive donations and raise awareness about fostering inclusion.

Strategy and Execution

The challenge was to devise an interesting, captivating, and engaging initiative for Voya to lead and elevate a discussion about fostering inclusion in a personal and meaningful way. Additionally, the challenge was to create an easy way to engage Americans to join in and aid the cause.

To break through the clutter and engage Americans, Voya teamed up with Special Olympics to shed light on the full profile, ambitions, goals, and aspirations of Special Olympics athletes. In partnership with the 52 U.S. Special Olympics' chapters, we sent out a "call for content" to all Special Olympics athletes across the country asking them to describe their goals beyond sports. Participants uploaded social content in the form of videos, photos, text to social media channels using #InvestInSomethingSpecial.

Personalizing the cause by placing real faces and stories to the issue elevated the emotional connection to this important cause.

Voya reposted the content to our social media pages, promoting the stories through organic and paid media. By announcing Voya would donate $1 per like/share/comment to Special Olympics, for a period of one week only, up to a total of $500K, we made it easy for Americans to join the cause and engage in the dialogue.

Voya developed and executed a fully integrated marketing effort, spanning TV, social media, celebrity influencers, PR, and employee engagement, entailing:

• National Partnership with Special Olympics International
  • Partnering in comprehensive promotional plans to support the campaign and to foster a national dialogue about inclusion

• Television (November 14th)
  • Segment on ABC's Good Morning America, the #1 viewed morning news program
  • Featured an interview with Special Olympics athlete sharing his goals
  • The segment highlighted the campaign with a call to action/hashtag, Special Olympics efforts, and Voya's commitment to the special needs community

• Social Media

• Extensive promotion on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tumblr

• Celebrity Influencers
  • Leveraged the social media networks of Special Olympics celebrity endorsers, including actress Vanessa Williams, NBA star Andre Drummond, actor John McGinley, and MLB pitcher Kyle Hendricks
• Field Marketing

• Comprehensive collateral/e-blasts for field to promote the campaign with their customers/participants

• Website Promotion

• Over 200 stories accumulated and featured on Voya's Tumblr site, specifically dedicated to the campaign
• Feature on Voya.com
• Link to Voya Cares™ microsite
• Featured on websites and social channels for each of Special Olympics' 52 US chapters

• PR
• Comprehensive PR, including national and local media (print, TV, social)
• Highlighting local athletes and their stories throughout the 52 US chapters
• Featured check presentations for local chapters, highlighting their work

• Employee Engagement

• Posters, Articles, Athlete Stories, and Social Media efforts
• Campaign videos to launch and close the campaign
• Gathering relevant stories from employees for heightened engagement

Results

Tactical:

• Drove >940,000 engagements, nearly doubling goal (500,000) (188% goal)

• Contributed to a 6-point increase in brand awareness reaching a new brand high

• Drove over 65MM media impressions, >165% goal

• Spike in positive brand sentiment

• Donated $520,000 to Special Olympics

• Spurred additional donations to Special Olympics:

• Average number of donations through Special Olympics increased 13%
• Total daily donation amount through Special Olympics website were 4 times greater

• Shared more than 200 stories, exceeding goal by double

• Strategic Business Objectives:

• Objective -- Raise Brand Awareness

• Contributed to a 6-point increase in brand awareness reaching a new brand high
• Drove over 65MM media impressions

• Objective - Communicate Voya's vision of being America's Retirement Company™

• Secured over 45MM impressions through PR centered on Voya Cares™ & thought leadership
• Increase in positive brand sentiment

• Objective -- Demonstrate Voya's commitment to the special needs community and their caregivers
  • Campaign helped Voya establish awareness and credibility within the special needs community
  • Heightened awareness for Voya Cares™

Additionally, the campaign resulted in immense internal, employee engagement, heightening morale.

Most importantly, it raised funds for Special Olympics and fostered significant dialogue about inclusion and support for people with special needs.

Media