After a year of lockdowns and limited access to wellness facilities, the Y's first post-COVID-19 membership campaign asks, "what about moms?" Moms who were often tasked with balancing it all, many working full-time under the same roof as virtual schooling, childcare, and more. Moms who needed time and space to call their own and invest in themselves. This audience was the primary target for the direct mail and most of the digital advertising.

 

For this campaign, I told a story by combining several photos to capture a moment of serenity. Complimenting the messaging, the pictured woman is no longer unsuccessfully finding her zen in lotus position surrounded by pillow-fighting kids at home. Instead, she finally finds herself in the quiet of a YMCA fitness class, focusing only on herself and her own well-being. ​

 

The secondary imagery, used on the back of the postcard and on the other social media ads, evokes a similar feeling of returning to wellness and routine. Big, genuine smiles - sometimes closely cropped, sometimes with a friend - remind the young adults being targeted that the Y can help them return to the joy of normalcy, health, and community. ​

 

Despite an ambitious goal and a limited advertising budget, this campaign surpassed sales goals by over 22% and generated a much higher than usual number of monthly online joins. Additionally, April 2021 saw a net positive revenue and units at every YMCA wellness center in Metro Denver for the first time in over a year.