Founded in 1984 by an unlikely coalition of LGBT activists, seniors, and renters, the City of West Hollywood (fondly known to residents as WeHo) is a place like no other. With vibrant arts and nightlife scenes, a thriving LGBTQ+ population, and a robust spirit of community activism and civic pride, WeHo makes a disproportionately large impact on the cultural life of Southern California.
Great Textpectations
In the spring of 2023 the city launched a new text communication platform designed to let residents subscribe to different channels for updates and announcements on topics relevant to them. Distinct from the city’s emergency alert system, the program presented a unique opportunity to shape a new, more engaging channel of communication between WeHo and its residents. Since our founding in 2017, Kilter has worked closely with WeHo on a wide array of projects ranging from COVID safety to transgender pride. In the lead up to the program's launch, the city turned to us to develop a compelling brand and campaign voice to break through to their audience.
More is More
West Hollywood is known both for its serious progressive politics and its seriously fun nightlife and cultural scene, a duality that the city’s brand embraces wholeheartedly. While most municipalities aim for a middle-of-the-road, risk-averse brand voice, WeHo isn’t afraid to take chances and be declarative about what the city represents. Because this initiative was targeted at exactly the sort of younger residents who generally tune out civic messaging, we knew the brand we created would need to up the ante by capturing a tone that pushed even harder against the expected to capture a tone that was surprising and fun.
From Emojis to Engagement
Our solution leaned into the native vernacular (both verbal and visual) of texting with an exuberant Gen-Z-inflected identity system that leveraged emojis, stickers, and a vibrant color palette paired with a winking, irreverent voice that built on the rhythms and idioms of textspeak.
Headlines like “GO FROM FOMO TO IN-THE-KNOW” and “GET ALL THE LATEST WEHO TEA BY TEXT” invited residents to become part of something engaging and exclusive and signaled that the info on offer was going to be more than just street closures and council meetings.
Recognizing the value of this unconventional approach to reaching their audience, the WeHo team immediately took to the direction embracing headlines we were sure they would shoot down (“YOU UP WEHO?”) and even questioning why we hadn’t added the eggplant emoji to any of our compositions.
The launch of the new brand coincided with WeHo’s iconic annual Pride celebration, with ad placements on social channels and digital signage throughout the city, ensuring that tens of thousands of revelers got the message. We worked with the city to continue the momentum post-launch with assets tied to other signature WeHo moments like the city’s annual Halloween Carnaval celebration (“LET’S DO THIS WITCHES!”) helping to build awareness and engagement for the new program.
Kilter Project Team:
Joseph Prichard
Creative Direction, Copywriting
Jessica Peng
Design, Illustration
To see more of this campaign, click here.
Founded in 1984 by an unlikely coalition of LGBT activists, seniors, and renters, the City of West Hollywood (fondly known to residents as WeHo) is a place like no other. With vibrant arts and nightlife scenes, a thriving LGBTQ+ population, and a robust spirit of community activism and civic pride, WeHo makes a disproportionately large impact on the cultural life of Southern California.
Great Textpectations
In the spring of 2023 the city launched a new text communication platform designed to let residents subscribe to different channels for updates and announcements on topics relevant to them. Distinct from the city’s emergency alert system, the program presented a unique opportunity to shape a new, more engaging channel of communication between WeHo and its residents. Since our founding in 2017, Kilter has worked closely with WeHo on a wide array of projects ranging from COVID safety to transgender pride. In the lead up to the program's launch, the city turned to us to develop a compelling brand and campaign voice to break through to their audience.
More is More
West Hollywood is known both for its serious progressive politics and its seriously fun nightlife and cultural scene, a duality that the city’s brand embraces wholeheartedly. While most municipalities aim for a middle-of-the-road, risk-averse brand voice, WeHo isn’t afraid to take chances and be declarative about what the city represents. Because this initiative was targeted at exactly the sort of younger residents who generally tune out civic messaging, we knew the brand we created would need to up the ante by capturing a tone that pushed even harder against the expected to capture a tone that was surprising and fun.
From Emojis to Engagement
Our solution leaned into the native vernacular (both verbal and visual) of texting with an exuberant Gen-Z-inflected identity system that leveraged emojis, stickers, and a vibrant color palette paired with a winking, irreverent voice that built on the rhythms and idioms of textspeak.
Headlines like “GO FROM FOMO TO IN-THE-KNOW” and “GET ALL THE LATEST WEHO TEA BY TEXT” invited residents to become part of something engaging and exclusive and signaled that the info on offer was going to be more than just street closures and council meetings.
Recognizing the value of this unconventional approach to reaching their audience, the WeHo team immediately took to the direction embracing headlines we were sure they would shoot down (“YOU UP WEHO?”) and even questioning why we hadn’t added the eggplant emoji to any of our compositions.
The launch of the new brand coincided with WeHo’s iconic annual Pride celebration, with ad placements on social channels and digital signage throughout the city, ensuring that tens of thousands of revelers got the message. We worked with the city to continue the momentum post-launch with assets tied to other signature WeHo moments like the city’s annual Halloween Carnaval celebration (“LET’S DO THIS WITCHES!”) helping to build awareness and engagement for the new program.
Kilter Project Team:
Joseph Prichard
Creative Direction, Copywriting
Jessica Peng
Design, Illustration
To see more of this campaign, click here.
