Objectives

The context: 
At its inception in 1970, Pride was a riot. It took 30 long years of activism and organizing for America to recognize Pride Month. Over time this activism continued and LGBTQIA+ people became more visible than ever before. In recent years, celebrating Pride was trending towards normal, sometimes even critiqued for being too corporate and losing its defiant roots. 

Leading up to Pride in 2023, a significant cultural and political shift occurred. Homophobic sentiment and hate rose sharply, and the Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQIA+ people in America. Pride campaigns from national brands, especially campaigns celebrating trans people, were suddenly met with a tidal wave of hate and threats of violence. Brands began to step away and cancel activations.

The idea:
Since 1990, Housing Works has fought for the LGBTQIA+ community in New York City to ensure that all people living with HIV/AIDS have access to quality housing, healthcare, HIV prevention, and treatment, among other lifesaving services. 

With homophobic and transphobic sentiment growing nationally and fear-mongering about the “gay agenda,” 2023 Pride was the moment to double down and show we’re not going anywhere. Thanks to Queer-centered healthcare from providers like Housing Works, LGBTQIA+ people will be here for a long, long time.

Objectives:

• Raise awareness for the inclusive, judgment-free healthcare services available at Housing Works Community Healthcare 
• Lead generation to connect Housing Works with new clients interested in PrEP, a medication to prevent the spread of HIV
• Improve engagement rates on digital media

Strategy and Execution

The challenge:
With limited paid media budget and a tight timeline for the activation, we had to be strategic to make the most impact with the resources available. Getting the attention of New Yorkers is no easy feat, especially when you’re talking about a topic that is often unexciting and overwhelming: healthcare. 

On top of that, unlike other audiences, there is no direct targeting capabilities for the LGBTQIA+ audience. While we agree that this targeting shouldn't exist, it did require creativity to get in front of MSM audiences in the market for PrEP. 

Our solution: 
We would need an impactful IRL and URL activation that not only got the attention of our audience but brought them into the Housing Works community.   

• IRL activations: 
  • We deployed loud, proud, selfie-worthy creative in out-of-home wild postings along the Brooklyn and Manhattan Pride parade routes.
  • We continued the wild postings through Williamsburg at Marsha P. Johnson Park, where Housing Works was sponsoring Transmission - the first-ever trans music festival. 
• URL activations: 
  • To keep the drumbeat going beyond IRL activation, we utilized the creative direction from the wild postings to create lead generation ads on Google Display, Pandora streaming radio, and Meta to funnel potential PrEP clients to Housing Works’ Community Healthcare email list. Beyond traditional demographic, keyword, interest, behavior, and lookalike targeting, we created custom segments for display campaigns. Custom segments were based on users who typically search relevant PrEP keywords and browse select domains.
• Email Campaign: 
  • Throughout the month of Pride, we sent a series of emails to these new leads that carried the same creative throughline of the wild postings and lead generation ads. With a welcome email to introduce them to the organization’s services, educational emails about the effectiveness of PrEP and how Housing Works makes it affordable, we were able to build new, lasting client relationships.

Results

We are proud to have connected a record-breaking number of New Yorkers to PrEP at Housing Works with this campaign. A bold and affirming message in this moment when LGBTQIA+ people are under attack is just what was needed to rally the community together. When it comes to supporting the Queer community, Housing Works has, and always will, have their back.

Goal #1: Awareness for the inclusive, judgment-free healthcare services at Housing Works 

• In total, the campaign earned an estimated 28.6M impressions across Meta, Google Display, out-of-home, and Pandora. 

Goal #2: Lead generation

• The 2023 Pride campaign earned 1.2x more leads YOY compared to Pride 2022, and 1.5x our monthly average over the past two years
• The cost per lead was 33% more efficient than the top evergreen lead-driving creative in market on Meta.

Goal #3: Improve engagement rates

• Compared to evergreen PrEP creative, the Pride creative saw a 24% increase in click-through rates on Google Display, and a 31% increase in click-through rates on Meta.

These relationships will last far beyond the month of June, and beyond the lane of PrEP. As we connect with clients with PrEP, they can explore Housing Works’ other healthcare services like primary care, HIV/STI testing, Hep C testing and treatment, and syringe exchange. 

Creating a strong foundation in the healthcare space also brings them into Housing Works’ supportive services to treat the whole person – from behavioral and mental health support to housing and legal advocacy.

Media