Home Matters Executive Summary

8/20/2019 Home Matters Executive Summary

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Introduction

During the month of February, we turn our attention to matters of the heart, showering

those we love and cherish with hearts, cards and flowers. This February, the 2015 ElonUniversity Bateman team also wanted people to turn their attention to Home, and torealize the impact Home has on every facet of American life. Home is not just where theheart is; Home is at the heart of core societal issues such as health, education,individual success and the economy.

Our team developed and launched a national campaign with a theme of “Home is wherethe heart is. In fact home is where it all starts.” It was focused on making a clear andconcrete connection between Home and key societal issues, while also positioningHome Matters ® at the heart of addressing the need for affordable housing and bettercommunities.

Understanding that how the American Dream is defined varies from person to person,we chose not to focus on redefining it for the audience. Instead, the campaign provideda platform for leveraging meaningful conversations about “matters of the home” thatimpact each and every American. And it did this while also building even more meaningand relevance into the current Home Matters ® tagline of “Home is Where It All Starts.”

In order to reach as many people as possible during the four-week campaign period, wecontacted digital influencers (well-known bloggers, journalists and other professionals)who already had large social media followings and asked them to share our campaignmaterials with their audiences and prompt discussion about Home Matters ® and thenational housing crisis. This allowed us to maximize our reach by tapping into existing

pools of Home Matters ® targets. The addition of “Home is where the heart is” to theHome Matters ® tagline was done strategically to capitalize on the month of February,during which matters of the heart take center stage. This theme encouraged opinionleaders and others to share our campaign with immediacy, considering the one-monthimplementation timeline.

In order to make the process easy for digital influencers, we created an online toolbox ofinformative materials they could easily share with their followers. The digital websitehoused infographics, a revised fact sheet, a detailed press release and a promotionalvideo using real people to tell the story of the specific benefits Home provides.

The “Home is where the heart is” campaign reached people in all 50 states and

garnered more than 750,000 media impressions. Our materials earned an article in theHuffington Post, and were shared by influencers with large followings on Twitter,Facebook and Google+. The video had more than 5,000 views on YouTube, and ourearned media accounted for 41.85% of referral traffic to the Home Matters ® websiteduring the month of February. In all, our campaign brought national attention to theimportance of Home and positioned Home Matters ® as the core organization bringingattention and funding to these issues.


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Situation Analysis and Secondary Research

Our nation continues to suffer from the impact of the Great Recession, which left

countless citizens struggling to stay in their homes. In fact, 70% of Americans believewe are still in the middle of a housing crisis and the worst is yet to come (How HousingMatters Survey). The economy has put a strain on families and individuals of allfinancial backgrounds. To date, 52% of American adults have made at least onesacrifice in order to pay their rent or mortgage (Home Matters ® ), and those paying morethan 30% on rent or mortgage have had to make these sacrifices at even higher rates(How Housing Matters Survey). And that means it’s time for change.

Wages are stagnant, there is a lack of social mobility, and funding is dwindling forhousing initiatives. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that the 2013Housing Wage was $18.79, exceeding the $14.32 hourly wage earned by the averagerenter by almost $4.50 an hour. In fact, according to a The Daily Californian article,

“40% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 60 experience at least one year belowthe official poverty line, and 54 percent spend a year in poverty or near poverty.”

Major metropolitan areas including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, andWashington D.C. are experiencing severe homelessness and housing issues that areforcing people to relocate. When Bill Moyers aired a report on developers in New Yorkdriving out the middle class, hundreds of viewers wrote in to report the same ishappening in their areas – from large cities to small towns (www.BillMoyers.com). Withthe current economic and political climate, stable housing should be understood as thekey to a healthy, successful nation. However, in recent years, federal, state and localfunding – as well as public support – has failed to keep up.

Lately, the scarcity of stable and affordable housing has begun to attract real attentionin American media and politics. However, these outlets are not linking all of the relevantissues together. While they may be talking about healthcare costs, wages, educationand public safety, most have failed to connect the dots in a way that makes it clear thatit all leads back to Home. As a result, the current housing conversation has failed togain momentum or result in meaningful action.

While many organizations are working to transform the housing climate in America,these groups often lack a strong public presence. In fact, most operate on such a smallscale that they fail to attract any significant public attention at all and therefore, don’treceive the necessary funding.

Home Matters ® is a national movement that promotes the connection between Homeand other key aspects of a healthy life. It informs the American public that a stablehome, and not just a house, is critical to quality education and proper healthcare, publicsafety, and personal success. Living in a true Home means being part of a greatercommunity, one that provides a strong foundation for a successful economy. It is HomeMatters’ ® mission build awareness of these connections in order to raise funds to makeHome a reality for all Americans.


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Primary Research

After assessing the situation through secondary research, we created an online survey

(approved by Elon’s IRB) and sent it out via social media. We had 183 responses from31 different states and respondents represented a wide range of income levels andages. We also held a focus group of eight people representing different age groups,backgrounds and occupations. The objectives for our primary research were to:

1. Assess the level of awareness and involvement in Home Matters ® ,2. Determine awareness of the social benefits of having a home, and3. Understand the target’s definition of the American Dream and how it relates to

Home.

The following were some key highlights from our research:

How Important is Housing? Research indicated that affordable housing does not rank that high on people’s list ofconcerns. When asked to rank the importance of a list of issues critical to the health ofour economy, respondents ranked affordable housing fourth behind jobs, education andhealthcare. The majority of people didnot view housing as a standout issue.

Home Impacts What . . .? Respondents connected Home withsafety/security, but weren’t able to make

connections to other important benefits.From the focus group, we learned thatpeople have very different versions ofthe American dream, but ultimatelyequate Home to being stable andsecure.

This word cloud reflects responses to an open-ended survey question. No oneassociated Home with education, health, the overall economy or personal success. Inan aided question later, respondents did find these associations important. This was aneye-opening insight because it revealed that people won’t necessarily make the

connection that the Home impacts all vital facets of American life unless it is made forthem.

Renting is Key, Too Owning a home was slightlyless important to Millennialsthan other generations. GenXrated the importance of home

Generation and Importance of Owning a Home


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ownership the highest with 54% stating it is very important, while Millennials andboomers rated its importance about the same, with 43% of each group saying it wasvery important. Millennials were slightly more likely to say it is not very important (18%)versus boomers (11%). This led to our realization that our campaign should include a

broad concept of Home to include renting as well as owning.

Home Who? Our findings revealed that there is a significant lack of awareness of Home Matters ® and what they actually do. In fact, 97% of respondents had not heard of HomeMatters ® . However, when given the Home Matters ® mission, 94% of surveyrespondents said it was important or very important. Our survey also revealed that themajority of respondents opted to “learn more” (66%) as the way they would be mostinterested in getting involved with the movement, rather than following Home Matters ®on Facebook (38%) or Twitter (15%). This informed us that we needed to buildawareness of the organization and drive people to the website to learn more.

Personal Connections Count We showed our focus group respondents the video from the Home Matters ® website.While respondents said they felt empathy towards the people in the video, they were leftfeeling a bit confused. They didn’t like that the video lacked a call to action. Focus groupparticipants emphasized that, to get them involved in the Home Matters ® mission, avideo would need to inspire them to think about their own connections with Home.These findings drove our creative strategy and directly impacted the approach to ourcampaign—particularly regarding our video.

Planning

GoalsThe primary goal of our campaign was to build national awareness of the notion that aHome provides so much more than four walls. What makes Home Matters ® so unique isthat they make the connection between Home and key societal issues such ashealth, education, safety, personal success, and the economy. By highlightingthese benefits, the public is better positioned to appreciate and contribute to the HomeMatters ® cause.

Secondly, we wanted to position Home Matters® as being at the forefront ofpromoting affordable housing and better communities. Despite the fact that the

current crisis affects so many, the general public knows very little about housingorganizations and what they are doing to remedy the problem. Our campaign aimed topromote Home Matters ® across the nation as a vital force in the housing solution.

Target AudienceOur team considered the three audiences suggested by Home Matters ® (BabyBoomers, Millennials, young parents) and decided to target all three, as well as GenX.We chose to include Gen X because, according to our research, this generation rated


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home ownership as the highest importance out of all age groups. For all generations,we wanted to target people who might not be aware of the problem but are in the bestposition to do something about it.

Strategy

In order to reach the most people nationally in the shortest amount of time, we chose toimplement a digital media campaign. Rather than trying to build a viral campaign fromscratch, we utilized existing digital outlets and influencers who already have asignificant following. We provided these leaders with a variety of campaign resources,making it easy for them to understand and share our message with their audiences.

In order to stimulate discussion surrounding the housing situation, we promoted theunique benefits of Home. We highlighted the relationship that Home has to education,health, success and the economy. Research showed that respondents only connectedproper housing to safety, but by connecting Home with other vital facets of our lives, the

housing crisis became a relatable, human, and meaningful topic of conversation.

As a call to action, we wanted to drive audiences to the Home Matters® website tolearn more, since our research showed people weren’t interested in going to the HomeMatters® social media pages.

We also knew that with a digital campaign we would have to be nimble by followingand capitalizing on hits as they occur . We monitored the campaign closely, andwhen someone wrote or tweeted about our campaign, we capitalized on that hit bysharing it with our other digital media targets.

Creative Strategy

We chose to utilize personal narratives from everyday people to tell their own storiesof why Home matters to them in each of the core areas. Our goal was to use thesestories to inspire others to think of their own stories of Home. By featuring personalaccounts, the issue of Home became relatable, memorable, and thought provoking. Rather than dilute the Home Matters® message with added layers, we employed theexisting Home Matters ® tagline, but connected it to Valentine’s Day by adding “Homeis where the heart is” to give the campaign immediacy and relevance for the month ofFebruary.

Key Messages Tagline: Home is where the heart is. In fact Home is where it all starts.

1. Home is at the heart of key societal issues such as health, public safety,education, individual success and the economy.

2. The Home Matters® organization is at the heart of bringing attention to theseissues, building awareness and funds for affordable housing and bettercommunities.


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Tactics and Implementation

Video

Based on our focus group feedback, we decided to create a video that involved peoplesharing their personal memories of Home. We wanted their answers to be honest andspontaneous, so we set out to Raleigh, North Carolina to film in a park. We re-created aliving room setting with an armchair, table and rug so we could easily ask people to“make themselves at home.” We had passersby sit in the chair and pull questions out ofa bowl, like “What does Home mean to you?” and “What was the biggest lesson yourparents taught you?” We were able to film a diversity of people from our target audiencetelling their personal stories of Home.

During video editing, we integratedthese personal narratives with copypoints about the five core societalissues (education, safety, health,personal success, economy) tomake the connection with Home.We also included copy about whatHome Matters® is doing to addressthese issues and directed viewersto the Home Matters® website tolearn more. By featuring personalnarratives in relation to the HomeMatters® message, the issuebecame relatable, memorable, and thought provoking for viewers. The video wasuploaded to YouTube and the link included in our digital press kit.

Digital Press ListWe developed a list of digital outlets and influencers who had large social media

followings that included members of our target audiences. For example, we includedparenting bloggers to reach young moms, young Twitter/YouTube personalities such asKaty Bellotte to reach Millennials, working professionals to reach GenX, and moretraditional media outlets such as the Huffington Post to reach GenX and Boomers. Wechose bloggers and other online personalities because we decided that the best way toreach the entire country was through a digital platform.

“Home is a place where you can concentrate on the important

things in life: learning, growing and helping other people”– Home Matters ® video


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Digital Press Kit Keeping in mind the digital nature of our campaign and our targeted outlets, wedeveloped a series of materials that could be easily shared on a variety of digital mediaoutlets. For example, infographics (two versions; horizontal and vertical, the horizontal

version is included below) that encapsulated the five benefits of Home were created forconvenient posting on Twitter or Facebook. A “meme” that included our “heart” themewas created as a teaser for sharing on Facebook. And, we created a press release andfact sheet for more traditional outlets that might want to write an in-depth story. A link toour video was also included. We created a Weebly website to house our campaign’scontent and then shared the web link with our digital outlets in our pitch email. Wewanted to make it easy for media influencers to access and share our materials.

Launch We launched our campaign on February 9 to create interest from our targeted press listin time for Valentine’s Day. We drafted a pitch email that we sent out to each of thesetargets that included a link to our media resources. In addition to emails, each of ourteam members also tweeted the video @ members of our targeted list or messagedthem on Facebook. When large hits occurred, we retweeted those hits to our targetedlist for additional sharing.


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Objectives and Measurement

Objective #1: EXCEEDED! Get at least two big digital outlets/influencers (those with followings of more than50,000) to share our content during the campaign period.

Key Performance Indicators: We secured earned media in The Huffington Post, with an article titled AffordableHousing Initiative Demands Action For Historic Rental Crisis We Can't Ignore. We wereable to get Jay Baer, an American marketing consultant and the author of thebestselling book Youtility , to promote our infographic and the Home Matters® website onhis Facebook page, which has over 98,500 followers. He also shared our campaignmaterials via Google+. Katy Bellotte, a lifestyle blogger and YouTube star, shared ourcampaign’s YouTube video via Twitter. Her endorsement allowed us to reach the

Millennial generation and her 48,000

followers. Twitter user Glenn

Thomas, @SoloSupremeTeam, retweeted the Huffington Post article. He has over101,000 followers on Twitter. In total, we had four big influencers share our content, inaddition to the many others with smaller followings.

Objective #2: EXCEEDED! Generate at least 500,000 media impressions in 30 different states during the campaignperiod.

Key Performance Indicators: We secured a total of 752,646 media impressions throughout our campaign. We

secured 477,295 media impressions via Twitter; 146,974 media impressions viaFacebook; 5,086 YouTube views; 30,291 impressions from Google+; and 93,000impressions from Huffington Post article. Our content was viewed in every state in theU.S., and was seen internationally as well.

Objective #3: EXCEEDED!

Have our video viewed by atleast 1,000 members of ourtarget audience by the end ofthe campaign.

Key Performance Indicators: Our YouTube video wasviewed 5,086 times during themonth of February. In additionto reaching people in all 50 states, it also reached an international audience, includingthe United Kingdom, India, Singapore, Brazil and South Africa.


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Objective #4: EXCEEDED! Have at least 2,000 members of our target audience interact/engage with our content bythe end of the campaign.

Key Performance Indicators: The Huffington Post article drove many people to the Home Matters® website,accounting for 41.85% of the referral traffic to the Home Matters® website in the monthof February. The organization’s website also saw a dramatic spike in website visitors onFebruary 14 and 15, the day of and the day after the Huffington Post article waspublished. The huffingtonpost.com link attracted viewers to the Home Matters® site whoeach viewed an average of 4.22 pages, compared to the average of 2.39 page viewsper visitor for other inbound links. The article alone received over 2,300 Facebook likes,202 Facebook shares, was tweeted 232 times, and garnered 347 comments relevant tothe housing situation. Comments included personal opinions regarding the causes ofthe affordable housing crisis, how renting is prevailing in different areas, the importance

of home ownership, and the politics of affordable housing. Our digital press kit wasviewed 968 times by 627 unique visitors. Of all those who posted our content on Twitteror Facebook, those posts received 2,339 likes or favorites and 255 retweets/shares.

BudgetFor our “Home is where the Heart is. In fact, Home is where it all starts” campaign weoperated under a budget of $300. Most of our budget was spent on developing ourcreative materials and producing our entry for the judges. After we developed theconcept for our video, gathered film props, created interview questions and scouted outthe filming site, we hired an Elon student to help us with videography. We also had asign printed that said, "Make Yourself at Home" as a prop for our living room setting. Weutilized an online software program for developing our infographics. The remainder ofthe budget was spent on producing our entries. We were $12.36 under budget andreceived no in-kind donations. We spent our budget on the following items:

Item Cost Date Paid Details

“Make Yourself atHome” Poster

$28.81 1/27/15 Item used in promotional video

Videography $50.00 2/18/15 We hired Elon student Mia Watkins to film& help edit our Bateman video

Visme 1-month Account

$28.00 2/1/15 1-month account was purchased to createour campaign info-graphics

4 Flash Drives $34.03 3/17/15 Flash drives to provide judges a convenientway to watch the YouTube video

Printing for 4booklets

$146.80 3/18/15 Print booklets to submit to judges

Total Budget Spent: $287.64 Amount Under Budget: $12.36


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Conclusion

By highlighting the connection between Home and key societal issues and positioning

the client as being at the forefront of promoting affordable housing and bettercommunities, the “Home is where the heart is” campaign brought to light the importanceof the national housing solution Home Matters® provides. We promoted theorganization’s unique mission via opinion leaders and national media, not only reachingthousands of people, hitting every state and internationally, but further encouragingthem to learn more and visit the Home Matters® website. We sparked meaningfuldialogues and generated national attention that could materialize into significantprogress.

The Elon University Bateman team’s campaign garnered 752,646 media impressions, earned an article in the Huffington Post, and reached the vast audiences of several

influential media leaders. Our promotional video had over 5,000 YouTube views, andour earned media accounted for an outstanding 41.85% of referral traffic to the HomeMatters® website during the month of February. We exceeded even our ownexpectations and brought national attention tothe importance of Home, positioning HomeMatters® as an essential organization in thefight to remedy the American housing crisis.

We greatly enjoyed using our campaign tobring Home Matters® a fraction of theattention it deserves. Home does matter, andnow hundreds of thousands of people are

aware that Home Matters®, too.

Regulations Note:The Elon University Bateman Team received special permission from PRSSA to leaveour video up on YouTube past the February 28 deadline because it was embedded intothe Huffington Post article. The team did not wish to leave Huffington Post with aninactive link that might damage their reputation. The Elon team did not count any hits onthe video after February 28.

“The one thing that does make a

difference to me, in life, is always

having those memories from

where we sat at the dinner table.”

– Home Matters ® video

Home Matters Executive Summary

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