Using Creative Storytelling to Drive Engagement
The Challenge
Like many large organizations, Freeman faced the challenge of breaking through communication fatigue. Traditional corporate messaging alone wasn't enough to capture attention or inspire the employee participation needed to support sustainability initiatives. The challenge was to create a memorable campaign that transformed an operational topic into an engaging call to action.
Client
Freeman
Result
11,000+ pounds of materials diverted through an integrated employee engagement and donation campaign.
56% employee behavior change, demonstrating the effectiveness of creative storytelling and integrated internal marketing.
Strategic partnerships with Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, and Repurpose America expanded campaign reach while creating measurable community impact.
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I believed that if employees were expected to change their behavior, the message needed to be entertaining, relatable, and easy to remember. Rather than relying on traditional awareness campaigns, I used storytelling, humor, music, and employee participation to transform sustainability messaging into an experience people would actively engage with.
By combining creative content with authentic employee involvement, I aimed to create a campaign that would generate conversation, increase visibility, and reinforce key behaviors long after the initial launch.
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Creative Campaign Development
Storytelling
Content Strategy
Video Production
Creative Direction
Employee Engagement
Internal Communications
Audience Engagement
Change Management
Brand Activation
Project Management
Stakeholder Management
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Partnership Marketing
Cause Marketing
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Behavior Change Communications
Program Development
Community Partnerships
Data Collection & Reporting
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Video Production Tools
Adobe Creative Suite
Internal Communications Platforms
Microsoft Office Suite
PowerBI
Smartsheet
What I Did
I conceived, wrote, and produced Trash Is Our Treasure, a parody music video inspired by Bruno Mars' "Treasure." I rewrote the lyrics to reinforce recycling, reuse, and waste diversion practices while adapting the message to resonate with employees working across offices, warehouses, and show sites.
I led the campaign from concept through execution, overseeing creative development, scriptwriting, production planning, employee recruitment, filming coordination, and promotion. I also worked with employees from multiple locations across the organization and coordinated filming at various Freeman facilities, helping create a sense of ownership and participation that extended beyond the final product itself.
Rather than treating employees as passive recipients of information, I designed the campaign to make them part of the story. By incorporating recognizable music, humor, and real employee participation, I transformed a routine operational topic into a shared experience that captured attention, reinforced key messages, and encouraged engagement.
To ensure the campaign translated into action, I paired the creative storytelling initiative with a reporting and measurement system that enabled employees to identify, document, and track items that could be reused or donated rather than discarded. This created a direct connection between awareness and action while providing measurable data on program participation and impact.
I partnered with national and local nonprofit organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, and Repurpose America, to create pathways for the donation and repurposing of recovered materials. Employees were encouraged to identify donation opportunities across show sites, warehouses, and offices, helping divert usable materials from the waste stream while supporting community organizations.
By combining creative content, employee participation, nonprofit partnerships, and data tracking, the campaign connected awareness directly to action. It demonstrated how storytelling can be used to influence behavior, drive participation, and create measurable impact.