We installed washers and dryers into schools across America to give at-risk students access to clean clothes. As part of the program, we created data collection devices for each laundry pair. The devices let us track washer usage for each individual student, and relate that to their attendance data, so we could see how clean clothes were directly impacting each student’s attendance.

To help tell our story, we filmed a documentary featuring teachers, students and administrators before and after a full year with the program. The film revealed how Care Counts impacted not only attendance, but the academic and social well-being of students as well.

Before launching publicly, we ran the Care Counts program in schools across the country for a full year, collecting data and video content so we could launch with a complete story backed by measurable results.

We finally launched publicly during the back-to-school season of 2016, releasing our 4-minute documentary video through social media and paid video outlets. The Care Counts website also went live at this time, immersing users in our story and giving them a chance to donate to the cause.

PR efforts capitalized on the start of the school year to earn widespread coverage on local and national news outlets. The power of the story itself has fueled its continued organic spread as a dialog has steadily grown between Whirlpool and a wide audience of interested parents and teachers, praising the program and requesting it for their own schools.

The Program Results

With the Care Counts program, over 93% of participating students saw an increase in their attendance over the previous year.

Students who had missed more than 10 days the previous year reduced their absences by almost two weeks.

According to teachers:

89% of students increased their classroom participation

93% of students participated more in extracurricular activities

Most importantly, Care Counts impacted the trajectory of countless kids’ educations, helping them attend school more often and have a better shot at a successful future.

The Marketing Results

Over 12.5 MM video views

4 pt lift in ad recall

6 pt lift in ad recall among millennials

8 pt lift in message association with millennials

613 feature PR placements

382 million impressions

110 Tier-A stories

4 national broadcasts

Over 53k social shares of this earned coverage