Copywriter/Strategist
Winter 2025
At SCAD, we spend a full quarter building one major capstone project, and for this one I had the opportunity to collaborate with the film department on the Walmart brief for the Young Ones Awards. Walmart is one of the largest retailers in the world, known for low prices, broad selection, and being the place you go when you need everything in one stop. But recently, the brand has been trying to shift that perception moving beyond just being practical and budget-focused to something more modern and digital
That shift is where this idea started. Walmart already sits at the intersection of utility and identity, whether people realize it or not. It’s affordable, it’s accessible, and it makes trying new things less risky. And that matters, especially for college students. The audience for this campaign is 17–22 year olds, first-time and returning students who are in this weird, in-between phase of figuring themselves out. They rely on Walmart for necessities, but they don’t see it as practical, not personal.
At the same time, students don’t show up to college fully formed. They become themselves through small, everyday choices, what they wear, how they decorate their space, what they decide is worth spending money on. When everything already feels expensive or uncertain, it becomes harder to experiment.
This campaign reframes it as part of that process. A brand that meets students where they are and makes it easier to try things, change their mind, and figure out what actually fits. Not telling them who to be, just making it easier to get there.
The campaign starts with a spec ad, following a freshman through their first week of college, moving from that initial uncertainty into small moments of confidence as their style and identity start to come together. Walmart is there the whole time, quietly enabling the process, with the reveal coming at the end.
That same visual language extends into out-of-home, using elevated photography and a more unexpected take on the “Who Knew?” tagline. Instead of feeling like a slogan, it becomes part of relatable, humorous copy that reflects the real Gen Z college experience.
On social, the Student Confessions series invites students to submit their most chaotic and relatable moments, which are turned into funny, data-driven content that actually feels honest to college life.
On campus, a Walmart-supported bike system integrates the brand into students’ everyday movement, making it part of their routine without over explaining it.
The biggest expression of the idea comes through the move-in market, a traveling back-to-school experience designed to feel like a local thrift or flea market. It’s curated, a little messy, and built for discovery, with no obvious Walmart branding until after a purchase, when students receive a copy-driven card that reveals the brand and directs them online to keep exploring.
Digitally, everything leads back to Walmart’s site and app, where students can shop in a way that actually matches how they think, by style, not just category. In-store, the campaign shows up through carts, baskets, and installations that use humor and real student language to make the experience feel more human and less transactional.
The campaign shifts Walmart from being the place you go when you need something to something that moves with you while you’re figuring things out. Because college isn’t really about becoming someone new, it’s about becoming yourself.
