DigitasLBi Brings Whirlpool to School

By Erik Oster 

Most people might not think of the connection between clean laundry and school attendance rates. But, when presented with the decision between facing the ridicule of their classmates or staying home, young people will often choose the latter. So Whirlpool and DigitasLBi teamed up to promote the “Care Counts” program, a new campaign which placed a washer and dryer in disadvantaged schools in an attempt to provide students with clean clothes and drive up attendance rates.

As it turns out, the program made quite a difference.

A case study video from DigitasLBi opens with an introduction to the program and some of the students it has helped. One fourth-grader named Joe remarks about how when his family was homeless all their money would go towards food, leaving nothing left to spend on washing clothes. Another fourth-grader Vanessa really gets to the core of the initiative, saying, “When I wake up in the morning and I find out I have no clean clothes, I usually just end up staying home.”

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It’s pretty heartbreaking stuff, but it all ends well. There was the expected increase in attendance, with over 90 percent of participants going to school for an average of six more days over the previous year. But there were some other, less obvious positive outcomes from the program including increased classroom and extracurricular activity, as well as improved test scores.

Plus, as Vanessa put it, “It makes me feel more excited and makes me feel like I fit in more.”

The video concludes with the brand’s plans to roll the program out to even more schools with the start of the new school year, since it has been such a success so far. In addition to the introductory video, there are also a series of shorter clips of students, school administrators and a parent liaison discussing the impact of the program.

Say what you will about the ubiquity of causevertising, but it works for Whirlpool here. Rather than another forgettable appliance ad, the brand has allied itself with a cause for which it can demonstrate results. That’s probably not something people would have expected from such a brand, and the video is likely to be shared on social media — especially by parents. 



Credits:
Client: Whirlpool
Vice President, Brand Marketing, North America: Bill Beck
Sr. Director, Brand & Marketing Services: Robert Sundy
Sr. Brand Manager: Ryan Morand
Brand Manager: Chelsey Lindstrom
Agency: DigitasLBi & Production
Chief Creative Officer: Ronald Ng
EVP, Executive Creative Director: Morgan Carroll
SVP, Group Creative Director: Mike Frease
VP, Creative Director: Louie Calvano
Associated Creative Director: Chris Jansma
Sr. Art Director: Bryan Haupt, James Collins
Sr. Copywriter: Samantha Bordignon,
Lead Experience Designer: David Plant
VP, Executive Producer: Greg Lederer
VP, Account Director: Kristine Kobe
Account Manager: Julie Wisniewski
VP, Group Director, Creative Strategy: Brian Sherwell
Associate Director, Social Strategy: Rachael Datz
VP, Account Director – Media: Caitlin Finn
Media Supervisor: Ryanne Donnellon
Media Planner: Samantha Harvey
Production Company: C41 Media
Director: Mai Iskander
Director of Photography: Mai Iskander
Executive producer: Carla Tate
Line Producer: Carla Tate
Editing House: Cutters, Inc
Editor: Kathryn Hempel/Emily Tolan
Producer: Patrick Casey
Audio Mix: Another Country
Mixer: David Gerbowsi

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