Invisible wounds, Visible Art: Engaging Youth And Vets Through Shared Passions
While veterans comprised 18% of the U.S. population in 1980, today they represent only 6%, and with that decline, comes a decrease in support for veterans. For Gen Z, the empathy gap is even larger because they didn't witness 9/11 and experience the national and global aftermath as a result.
To help bridge that empathy gap, we tapped into a topic that matters to both audiences: mental health.
While it can be hard for anyone to describe their mental health journey, it can be especially hard for veterans. Wounded Warrior Project offers many programs from art therapy to adaptive sports, to support veterans as they return from service– living their mission to "honor and empower wounded warriors." We invited a few veterans to share their stories in a way those supported by Wounded Warrior Project could, and in a way that would resonate with a younger audience today.
Common Ground, Lasting Gratitude
To generate and drive awareness for Wounded Warrior Project we focused on passions that veterans and Gen Z share. The goal was to help younger generations relate to veterans, understand their experiences, and value their sacrifices. We identified their common interests like taking care of their mental health, art therapy, and skateboarding, and through that, created Warriors On Board. The initiative features 11 veterans creating 11 skateboard designs to express their own personal journeys through art expression to promote mental health for veterans. Experiences like trauma, depression, and PTSD are incredibly difficult to articulate into words, so we gave Wounded Warrior Project veterans a skateboard as a canvas to express themselves and their mental health journeys.
A Big Boost From Our Allies
Warriors On Board was launched on Veterans Day with the help of professional skateboarder, Ryan Sheckler, and US Naval Petty Officer and Wounded Warrior Project veteran, Harley Meagley, skating together and talking about their mental health journeys via Harley’s skateboard art at Ryan’s private indoor skatepark, Sandlot Times.
Everyone Has A Story To Tell
At the microsite warriorsonboard.org, visitors could not only explore the art pieces but learn more about each individual warrior artist behind the design.
Their stories of service, of sacrifice, and of support transformed into art and content pieces that were able to be shared, and in the cases of the boards themselves, able to be won. Warrior stories also were shared across social media to deeper connect with our audience in spaces where they spend their time.
Giving Back
Collaborating with creators with large Gen Z followings in the skating, art, and mental health communities, they highlighted the campaign and the warrior artwork in their feeds to bring new audiences into the Warriors On Board program. Additionally, hundreds of veteran-designed skateboards were given away during the Warriors On Board Sweepstakes. Participants who entered had an instant connection to the veteran stories and their art on skateboards, in hopes of winning one for themselves.
The Results
We surpassed benchmarks in terms of Follower Growth, Video Completion Rate, and Cost Per Completed View on Instagram. We received a plethora of positive feedback from fans, creators, and the veteran artists involved and brought 4.6K new people (mostly Gen Z) into the Wounded Warrior Program ecosystem where they will hopefully be inspired to donate or volunteer.
Total Giveaway Entries
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Willing to Donate to WWP in the Future
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