Working Towards Hope With 8 West

This article was originally published at diamondandbranch.com

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If you don’t know by now, Diamond + Branch was founded to help mission-driven organizations with the ultimate goal to help people do more good. Our newest client, 8 West, does it all — helps local communities, changes lives, and promises a better future.

‍8 West is a locally-based social enterprise that employs homeless youth through the production of handmade soaps. The name “8 West” was inspired by Interstate 8 West, which ends in Ocean Beach — an area that has one of the highest concentrations of homeless youth in Southern California. Not only does 8 West provide homeless youth with a “hand-up” in employment, they also partner with Urban Street Angels, a non-profit organization that provides housing to homeless youth. Together they are solving a real issue in San Diego in a very sustainable way — good for our community, environment, and YOU! D+B is ready to use our powers for good and embark on this journey towards hope!
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Who is 8 West?

Since 2015, 8 West has given hope to homeless youth by giving them an opportunity to rebuild their future in a sustainable way. How is that? They provide a 6-11 month job training program that is specifically designed to help transitional age homeless youth, who are between 18-25 years old, learn the essential skills needed for employment. Many of these youth have suffered abuse and trauma throughout their lives. During the program, the youth work together to create handmade soaps for purchase– ultimately giving them real-world skills that will help them find a job. 100% of proceeds go back to the youth, funding the supportive housing program through Urban Street Angels.

Right now, they have six lines of soap — Pier Pressure, Pirate Booty, Sandy Bottom, Sunny Side, Float my Boat, and Vitamin Sea. All soaps are handmade, fair trade, natural, vegan, biodegradable, good for you, and even better for your community! 8 West is more than just soap, they are a sustainable solution to ending homeless youth, and we are so excited to be on this journey towards hope!
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Strategy

A couple of weeks ago, we all met at the D+B office where we discussed our initial phase of our Digital Strategy Roadmap. This consists of marketing personas, competitors, strengths, and opportunities, and a review of their website, messaging, and social media channels. This research will help us craft an informed strategy to improve 8 West’s digital presence, content, and future campaigns.

‍The challenge right now is to define two main points:

‍1. Since Urban Street Angels and 8 West intertwine efforts, how will we differentiate the non-profit organization and the social enterprise?

2. What are the core messages and stories we want to tell?

Within the next couple of weeks, we will finalize our core messages, define each persona by-product and story, determine our KPIs, and craft our strategy for future campaigns. All of this will move us toward our big holiday campaign!

This is just the beginning of the 8 West and D+B journey! Stay tuned for our holiday campaigns, but if you can’t wait till then, buy soap now!