Goodwill is a historic brand with over 100 years of history. Around Seattle there are 20+ locations (one of which is the largest in the country) making it an institution both nationally and locally. While brand recognition is high, competition for secondary markets has never been greater. There is both competition in retail and online with platforms like Depop and FB Marketplace.

The Ask

Goodwill needed a refresh in its creative voice and media execution to better highlight its mission-based values, while showcasing what makes it unique for shoppers. To bring the vision to life, they brought in Milli as their lead agency to handle strategy and creative, and DNW to lead media planning and execution. They wanted a fresh look and feel to help drive 10 million footsteps to their locations.

10 million Footsteps

With a lofty goal of driving YoY gains across 20+ locations, we were tasked with creating a plan to reach a younger audience around Seattle, motivate them to shop at Goodwill and drive more footsteps. Footsteps = sales, and if we can hit the traffic goals, we can ensure Goodwill hits its revenue goals that help keep it operational and fund its mission for education and advancement.

Find Your Rare

Milli got to work creating a new campaign approach that appealed to a wide array of consumers. They built a campaign around “Find Your Rare” that acknowledges the uniqueness of the finds at Goodwill across a variety of retail categories. It’s not just clothing, but it’s music, tech, home goods and more on top of clothing. Complimenting the brand campaign around Find Your Rare, we created unique pop-up events at Goodwill, working with local influencers that have cultural impact to create some cache and new brand identity. The influencers curated custom racks based on their personalities, with special build-outs on the retail floor. The combination of an overarching Brand campaign + individual moments within gave us a nice 1-2 punch to drive in-store action.

From there, DNW took the creative direction and built a media plan to support the vision. We invested heavily in OOH to show up in real life moments surrounding the stores with the fresh messaging. Utilizing a mix of bus wraps, wild postings, and billboards/wallscapes, we covered the greater Seattle area. We then created a targeted digital plan with 3 layers to maximize reach and performance of the campaign.

1.        Brand Campaign: Run a Find Your Rare digital campaign across the Seattle store footprint increasing awareness.

2.       Spotlight Funds: Providing unique budgets to lower performing stores giving them extra budget and attention. We also added in Spanish-language ads to reach the broadest audience possible

3.       Pop-Up Events: Surround store-specific influencer led pop ups with social media helping promote the curated racks for the duration of their stay (3-4 weeks)

The Results

With the campaign launching in March, we saw gains nearly immediately with big foot traffic improvements YoY.

Summary

The combination of an internal marketing team with a vision along with fresh creative and smart media, you can reinvigorate your marketing and drive tangible results. In a short period of time we were able to improve foot traffic and create a framework to build on for years to come.