WWTT? La-Z-Boy Campaign Offers Comfort and Thanks to Healthcare Workers

If you're a bit of a YouTube watcher like me, or a fan of The Office, you may have heard about "Some Good News," hosted by John Krasinski. If not, watch through some episodes, and take joy that there is still plenty of good in the world. So, in a similar vein to SGN, here is some more excellent marketing news, along the lines of a new La-Z-Boy campaign that combines a considerate donation with some heartfelt user-generated content. To offer some physical comfort to healthcare workers, La-Z-Boy is donating $1 million worth of furniture to frontline nurses. According to the furniture retailer's CMO, Eli Winkler, the company is working directly with the American Nurses Association to select nurses in areas of the country most heavily impacted by COVID-19, and those individuals will be able to receive their choice of a chair, recliner, or sofa. But the La-Z-Boy campaign doesn't just end there. Dubbed "#OneMillionThanks," the furniture retailer has created a microsite that encourages the public to find creative ways to thank healthcare workers — and to share those thanks on social. I had the opportunity to ask Winkler some questions about the La-Z-Boy campaign earlier this week, and of course my first question was about the campaign's inspiration, and why the retailer wanted to get the public involved. Winkler responded: "La-Z-Boy has always provided comfort to those who need it most. Frontline medical professionals have had to live without the normal comforts of home for the last while. In many cases they have had to distance themselves from their families, while also enduring an incredible amount of stress. We saw an opportunity to say 'thanks' in the way that we know best — by providing furniture to nurses who deserve both physical and emotional comfort. "This is our way of showing thanks. But we wanted to create a million more ways to say 'thank you.' People have shown an incredible amount of creativity while at home. We wanted to harness all that creativity and generate one big “thank you” for medical professionals. A simple show of thanks goes a long way." Participants are encouraged to get creative with their thank yous and post to social, tagging with the hashtag #OneMillionThanks. The campaign is supported by 15 and 30 second video clips, created by creative agency RPA and supported by a digital buy. It's great that La-Z-Boy has its brand ambassador Kristen Bell participating in the project, but I feel like there's more to this than having a Hollywood sweetheart encourage UGC. When I look at the microsite, the impression I get (whether intentional or not) is that this campaign does more than just help healthcare workers feel good. #OneMillionThanks is also a creative exercise to help the people doing the thanking feel good, too. Scrolling through the site, you come across myriad activity ideas to help create your thank yous, from origami heart-folding to DIY sidewalk chalk paint. Despite the fact that these activities are geared toward creating thank yous for healthcare workers, at the end of the day they're also great activities for individuals, couples, and families to work on while under quarantine — whether they're creating a thank you or something else. I'm certain the DIY sidewalk chalk paint instructions will be put to use for many more projects down the road, and perhaps the origami heart folding will inspire people to look deeper into the Japanese art form as way to de-stress and be creative in general. Practicing the act of gratitude is a great way to improve your mental health and well-being ... something I'm sure we could all use a bit more of nowadays. And while the #OneMillionThanks La-Z-Boy campaign probably wasn't aiming for this, I'm glad that by asking people to create thankful content, La-Z-Boy is helping us all be a little more creative and gracious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6txQ5yn5S8 Speaking of practicing the art of gratitude, one of my and favorite authors and YouTube personalities, John Green created a wonderful Vlogbrothers video about it, as well as gratitude journaling. I highly recommend giving it a watch — once you've finished making your own #OneMillionThanks post. Marketers, tell me what you think about this campaign, how you're practicing creativity and gratitude, or anything else on your mind in the comments below!

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WWTT? La-Z-Boy Campaign Offers Comfort and Thanks to Healthcare Workers

Melissa Ward

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Melissa Ward