Our agency was challenged by the New York City Rescue Mission to raise awareness of the worldwide homelessness problem. We developed Underheard in New York with the objectives of first helping members of the marginalized homeless population speak for themselves and then, inspiring the world to listen. We identified four homeless men and set them up with Twitter accounts and prepaid phones with unlimited text messaging service. We asked them to tweet about their life experiences by sending text messages to Twitter, broadcasting their stories to the world. We supplemented their Twitter feeds with a branded Underheard in New York stream which aggregated the tweets of the four participants. We also developed a micro-site and maintained a daily blog to articulate the tweeters’ stories in detail and provide video and written content about the needs, difficulties and dreams of the four men. In addition to creating a network of over 18,000 Twitter followers and earning over 100 million unpaid media impressions, Underheard in New York also achieved discrete results for each participant.

Members of the community volunteered gifts both financial and priceless, from metrocards to reconnecting a man and his family.

The Underheard in New York Twitter streams began on February 2, 2011 and the participants continue to use their phones to tweet, though no longer associated with Underheard in New York (from March 2, 2011).

We maintained the aggregating Twitter stream and blog and created new content throughout the month-long campaign. The mechanics and engagement principles of the campaign ran according to plan and the community response far exceeded initial expectations. Underheard in New York continues to act as a mediary in its role to receive donations, gifts, etc on the participants’ behalves.

Underheard in New York exceeded measurable goals by earning over 100 million media impressions across all channels worldwide in addition to fostering a community of over 18,000 Twitter followers who sent over 9,000 messages to the participants within one month. Earned media generated over 600 comments and more than 13,000 social media shares. We also achieved discrete personal outcomes for the four participants, and the community demand for donation acceptance mechanisms required Underheard in New York to adapt to fit these needs. The campaign also achieved a 98% favourable sentiment rating.