In America, there are 34 million individuals who do not get the meals they need to thrive. During the pandemic, millions of people already facing hunger experienced a crisis within a crisis, with lost wages, missed school meals, and potential increased health risks amplifying the critical need for support. 40% of individuals seeking help during the pandemic had not sought help before, and the Black and Hispanic populations are still disproportionately affected.
As the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, Feeding America is leading the charge to end hunger and looked to create a full campaign to increase consciousness and urgency about this issue.
With the public's help, we can end hunger in America. Research shows that all audiences need to be motivated to turn existing awareness into increased familiarity and action. As such, the campaign's objective was primarily to inspire conversation about and drive passion for hunger in the U.S. and secondarily to drive engagement with Feeding America by donating, advocating, and volunteering to name a few.
The campaign was designed to show the impact of food on people's lives and widen the lens of what it looks like to be hungry, dispelling the notion that any particular race, social, or economic group is at risk. We wanted a clear visual representation of how the impact of a meal goes beyond solely nourishing our bodies. Because when people are fed, their futures are nourished.
The development process began with analyzing how supporters’ attitudes and perceptions of hunger had been impacted by both the pandemic and subsequent media coverage of hunger. At the pandemic's beginning, we saw a broader empathy and understanding of how hunger could affect anyone. As it slowed, attention began waning; however, motivation to end hunger did not. We had an opportunity to increase support by removing barriers to participation, such as volunteering and donating.
A full strategic audience analysis was conducted to uncover the identities and motivators of our target. We built an archetype of “Conscientious Neighbors” who are motivated by their unique experiences and are united by a common goal of advancing their communities further. These are a group of individuals who live through empathetic altruism. They are inspired to fuel change with any action, big or small, each day. We also identified the audience's need for transparency and relevancy.
Our marching principle: Get conscientious neighbors eager to collectively reimagine a world without hunger to take action by showing them that when they fight hunger with Feeding America, they impact nourishing neighbors to thrive.
We created “The Full Effect” creative campaign inspired by what can happen when the time and energy people spend on being hungry is spent on them bettering themselves and their community. We can change their entire world by helping feed those who face food insecurity. Suddenly, they will have the disposition to attend practice, more energy to face a classroom full of six-year-olds, or simply more time to spend with their daughter. Because when people don't have to survive anymore, they are free to live.
We took great care in ensuring the campaign approached hunger, and those facing hunger, with dignity. We crafted a soul-activating, empowering, optimistic, inclusive, and human approach. The campaign idea was tested through qualitative and quantitative research among individuals from various backgrounds, ethnicities, and communities, including people with lived experiences with food insecurity.
Upon validation that the approach was strong, we developed a fully integrated national campaign inclusive of broadcast, online video, radio, print, digital banners, and out-of-home (OOH) assets, all in English and Spanish.
The campaign garnered $1.5 million of donated media support from national partners such as Lifetime TV, A&E, History en Español, NBCUniversal, Meta, BuzzFeed, TikTok, Reddit, Twitch, and The Root.
