Ward’s Foundation: Clear Language for a Complex Experience

Challenge

In April 2020, Caroline and Trey Winslett’s infant son, Ward, was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition. The diagnosis was devastating – and navigating the medical and emotional impact of that diagnosis often felt like the wilderness. Ward passed away on October 16, 2020. Just three months later, the Winsletts launched Ward’s Foundation to support other families going through similar experiences.

“I was talking to families regularly and connecting them in every way I could,” said Caroline, now Executive Director of the organization. “We very quickly realized that the needs are growing – and we wanted to be able to scale our services to support these families” The organization launched an ambitious new strategic plan last year that will expand its scope to include direct services for families, including a digital resource hub, crisis navigation services and a peer support network.

But as the mission grew, so did the challenge: how to evolve the brand and messaging in a way that clearly communicated this expansion—helping families impacted by rare disease see their place in the story, while honoring the powerful legacy of Ward.

Solution

Ward’s Foundation partnered with Porch Light Creative to develop brand messaging and a strategic marketing plan that would bring greater awareness to their expanded services.

In a half-day messaging workshop, we worked with the Ward’s team to:

• Develop personas and identify tactics that would continue to engage existing supporters, while broadening their audience to new families. 
• Create messaging that recognizes the common experience of rare disease. Even though the diagnoses are complex and unique, the messaging needed to build on the experiences and common needs of families. 
• Craft fresh brand messaging, headlines, and taglines that captured their expanded mission and gave them language to grow.

From there, we integrated that messaging across the organization’s digital footprint and built an 18-month strategic marketing plan and content calendar designed to broaden brand awareness and support their strategic and program goals.

Results

Together, Ward’s Foundation and Porch Light Creative built a messaging platform that included an elevator pitch and key messages that brought concise, cohesive language to the organization’s mission and services.

“Working with Porch Light helped us hone in on language that communicated complicated concepts clearly and concisely,” said Caroline. “What we most valued was Janet’s commitment to getting it just right, even when that meant revising something based on new information. Ultimately, we walked away with a plan that had specific next steps and templates that will make marketing much easier.”