Housing Counseling Awareness and Visibility Campaign

Overview

Because many people are not aware of the value and availability of housing counseling services, HUD contracted with CMRignite to develop and execute an awareness and visibility initiative to educate consumers and other stakeholders on the benefits of housing counseling. The goals were to increase awareness of housing counseling services and its value in making housing decisions and positively change the perceptions of housing counseling. The campaign also supported over 2,000 housing counseling agencies throughout the nation. 

Services Provided

Strategic Planning, Branding, Creative Development, Public & Media Relations, Campaign Evaluation

Our Solution

Using findings from our audience research, we developed a comprehensive Strategic Communications Plan and recommendations for rebranding OHC. Our team also had to change the public’s negative perceptions of housing counseling by normalizing it as a user-friendly resource that can be trusted. Results included research, analytics, new branding identity, website redesign, social media, and special events. Our team also developed two posters highlighting the benefits of housing counseling, which garnered nearly 500 views on HUD exchange. Our Disaster Recovery posters were translated into 17 languages and were viewed more than 100 times, and the General Housing Counseling brochure was viewed nearly 2,000 times. Our National Homeownership Month brochure was distributed to 1,800 HUD-approved housing counseling agencies throughout the U.S. We also designed and conducted two training series for agencies about social media and media relations, attended by over 300 people in 4 in-person locations. Our e-blast brochure series produced a 32% open rate, whereas the industry standard is 15%. CMRignite also created Dare to Own the Dream videos, viewed over 10,000 times in one month and posted on USA.gov, YouTube, and HUD’s websites