Strategic storytelling for thrift pieces.
Bridging stories between second chances and second-hand pieces.
Introduction
As part of my External Engagement at Parsons, our client was Housingworks (HW), a New York City-based non-profit company fighting AIDS and homelessness via second-hand furniture and thrift clothing sales.
Brief and Process
The client’s goal was to transform its thrift retail business into a landmark shopping experience in New York City. Our research varied between client workshops, guerilla interviews with shopping users, and in-depth interviews with volunteers at Housingworks.
Outcome
Our team created a storytelling strategy with actionable tactics to create perpetual excitement over time. Our prototype was a customization event.
User research
From interviewing customers in the store, we derived three different archetypes: Fans, who are loyal HW customers and shop for antiques, Familiars, who know HW’s selection and shop based on need, and critics, who are not familiar with the store.
Insights
We noticed a majority of customers did not know about Housingworks’ cause as a non-profit and complained about high pricing. Similarly, most interviewees stated they thrift for the retail experience and the uniqueness of clothes and items, declaring their love for “the thrill of the hunt”.
Strategic action
Using the power of thrift excitement, our team revisited secondary research on brands and real-life events that have succeeded in creating excitement. We analyzed excitement by design (Jordans) vs. serendipity (subway). An excitement strategy will allow HW to embrace and capitalize on the inherent entropy of thrift, serendipitous value capture, justifying a higher price point.
Ideation
In order to connect the issue of cause awareness among customers and the excitement for thrift, we approached strategic storytelling. Stories, real or imagined, could amplify customers’ perceived value of second hand items. Unique NYC-based events could further create excitement and interest in Housingworks’ cause.
Prototyping
Our team hosted a NYC-based experience in the Housingworks Chelsea location, that showcased stories of “personified items” and enabled customers to customize their items with embroidery and accessories. This demonstrated one of the actionable tactics that adds to pillars of excitement for the Housingworks brand.
Deliverable
The team delivered a strategic vision that adds pillars of excitement to Housingworks’ brand universe, connects with customers on an intimate level, and creates long-term brand loyalty.
Emotional attachment: Individuals’ pain of losing is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining (Loss aversion)
Participation: Tangible objects create an emotional connection to services even before their first use (Sensory touch)
Storytelling: Human tendency to disproportionally overvalue the things they (partially) create (IKEA effect)
Excitement by design by serendipity
vs.
