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The United Way Homeless not Voiceless Matthew Tworek Jacob Thiessen Audrey Neale

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Page 1: The United Way

The United Way Homeless not Voiceless

Matthew Tworek Jacob ThiessenAudrey Neale

Page 2: The United Way

Creative Rationale. The big idea for this campaign is, “Homeless, not voiceless.” With this idea we aim to increase awareness of and sensitivity towards homelessness in Winnipeg.

We created the campaign with two distinct target audiences in mind. The first is parents of young children, living in the suburbs of Winnipeg where there is little to no homeless seen. They know homelessness exists; they see it when they travel downtown to shop, or on a night out in Osborne Village. However, they see the homeless as fixtures of the landscape, inconveniences that come with the terrain. Through this campaign, we aim to change the perceptions of this target audience by humanizing the homeless and showing that homelessness is a real issue.

The second audience is young adults living, working or studying downtown where homelessness is a visible issue. These people see homelessness on a daily basis, but have become desensitized to the issue. They do not see it as a problem that has a solution or requires their attention. Our objective for this audience is to humanize the homeless by giving them a voice and a relatable story.

The video PSA addresses our objectives for both audiences by telling a simple story and giving a real, relatable voice to homelessness. The visuals tell the story of a day in the life of a homeless person in Winnipeg, in the format of a montage. They work to underpin the real content of the story - the narration.

The narration presents relatable pieces of the narrator’s personality and life before losing his home. It relates indirectly to the visuals, keeping the focus on the spoken story while the visuals subtly reinforce the reality and relatability of the narration.

We created a custom piece of music for the PSA, which sets the tone and complements the narration and visuals. While crafting the music, we used the words honest, bleak, and hopeful as cues for the mood we wanted it to create.

We chose to use Twitter as the cornerstone of our social media campaign. Twitter is made for short, easily digestible personal expressions, which is exactly what we want to send on behalf of the homeless. It holds an element of the bizarre, as homeless people are not known for their Twitter presence, and therefore creates the unexpected relatability that we are aiming for. The accompanying blog takes the same principles of the social media campaign, but digs deeper and provides a more involved, more personal forum. The big idea and the nature of the messages are the same, but the larger format complements the bite-sized nature of the Twitter account.

To truly create change we must help people form connections with the homeless and have them realize that they need help and support. It is important to break down the wall of misconceptions and misunderstanding between the homeless and those who pass by them on the street every day, and build an environment of interest, care and compassion. The campaign aims to get people talking and sharing – first with the homeless, then with their friends.

Page 3: The United Way

Creative Rationale. For our social media component, we plan to create a strategic Twitter page that will showcase real thoughts, funny insights, or heartfelt messages that homeless people give us. With careful monitoring, homeless people will dictate the tweets, making this movement appropriately titled, “Voices of the Homeless.” Many homeless people may not have cell phones or access to social media, so we would provide them with a safe place where they can have a voice and send their thoughts out to the public.

To collect these tweets and monitor content, we have a few options. First, we would have someone stationed at a place like Siloam Mission, where they can interact with people in a safe environment. Secondly, we would have a United Way volunteer approach them on the street and offer to buy them a meal. While going for a simple meal with the individual, the volunteer would start a conversation and tell them they would like to Tweet something from their conversation. In this way, messages are automatically screened by the volunteer in a natural and cooperative manner while they are being collected.

The idea is to send surprising, lighthearted messages out to the public that inspire people to help. Relating to homeless people on a platform like Twitter will make it easier for others to interact with them if they don’t feel comfortable doing so in person. People also have the option to respond to the tweets by using specific hashtags which we will create, such as #SurpriseMe or #LearnSomethingNew.

We will also use the Twitter account to direct followers to an accompanying blog, which will include personality profiles about homeless people living in the city. We will approach these people in the same way as the Twitter component, with volunteers stationed at places like Siloam Mission and starting conversations with the homeless.

The objective for the blog is to reinforce our campaign’s message. It is another tool we can use to help homeless people be heard. We will incorporate photos of the individual, their current living situation, and other things such as what an average day is like. The personality profiles are a great way for the public to get to know the homeless people in their community and what their daily life is like.

People will be able to access the blog through the Twitter account we’ve set up. When a homeless person tweets with our Twitter component, an attached link will send the reader to the blog where they can find more information about a certain individual. This blog can even help the people who might be uncomfortable with interacting with homeless people in person. They can still help homeless people and feel safe doing so.

Social Media Strategy.

Page 4: The United Way

Public Service Announcement: Script

VIDEO

GRAPHIC OF HOMELESSNESS STATISTIC

VISUAL OF A HOMELESS MAN BEGGING

THE MAN IS WALKING DOWN THE STREET

SLOW PAN OF HIM HUDDLING IN A CORNER TO KEEP WARM

CLOSE UP OF HIS HAND CARESSING A PICTURE OF HIS LITTLE BROTHER

THE MAN IS SITING BY THE RIVER, SOLEMNLY

CUT TO GRAPHIC ALONGSIDE THE MAN

UNITED WAY INFORMATION

AUDIO

MUSIC UP:

MALE V/O:

When you’re alone all day, it gives you a lot of time to think.

I think about how I used to share a room with my little brother.

I used to love playing soccer, listening to blues music, movies with friends.

Everyone just walks by because they know they can’t change my life in an afternoon.

I am homeless, not voiceless.

Can you hear me?

FADE:

Page 5: The United Way

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Page 6: The United Way

thank you.