THE CREATIVITY ISSUE: Nickel Communications

Agency: Nickel Communications

Client: Goodwill Manasota

Market: Sarasota-Bradenton

Goodwill targeted millennials with this campaign, says Lindsey Nickel-de la O, a co-founder and creative partner at Nickel Communications.

“Goodwill has a lot of things, like vintage clothing, that millennials could identify with,” says Nickel-de la O. “But it doesn't always look cool.”

The idea for this campaign stems from a project Nickel-de la O worked on with her students at a pre-college advertising course at Ringling College of Art and Design. Students in the class, which Nickel-de la O taught last summer, sought to promote what a Goodwill donation and purchase does to help people get and maintain a job. Students bought Goodwill items, then took pictures of the finds and designed posters about the impact.

Goodwill Manasota officials liked the project so much they hired Nickel Communications to expand it for the organization's 2015 brand campaign. The final campaign is a rare example of Goodwill promoting future sales over donations in marketing materials.

The faces of the campaign are Goodwill Manasota brand ambassadors, people in the community passionate about Goodwill. Each participant in the campaign talked about something they purchased at and love about Goodwill.

Florida State Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, and his wife, Jennifer Steube, for example, loved the couch they bought for their dogs. Another brand ambassador is Penny DiGregorio, retail advertising manager for the Observer Media Group, publisher of the Business Observer. DiGregorio's passion is to find something at Goodwill and bring it back to life through art.

“We wanted to get the impact Goodwill has on the community,” says Nickel-de la O. “It's more than donations.”

Follow Mark Gordon on Twitter @markigordon

More work from Nickel Communications' Goodwill Manasota campaign: