The Background
As fewer Americans serve in the military, fewer civilians personally know someone who has. They may respect veterans, but their understanding of the military community increasingly comes from a distance.
The Problem
The civilian-military divide isn't only a connection gap. It's a knowledge gap.
Without personal relationships, civilians often understand veterans through movies, news, social media, and stereotypes rather than the people themselves.
The Insight
A relationship gives you something a statistic can't: perspective.
Military service is only one part of a veteran's story. They're also parents, artists, gamers, athletes, coworkers, neighbors, and friends.
Understanding happens naturally when people spend time together.
The Opportunity
USAA has spent more than a century serving the military community, putting the brand in a unique position to help civilians connect with it.
This Veterans Day, USAA can move people from:
Recognition → Relationship
Awareness → Understanding
Learning about veterans → Learning from veterans
Doing something for veterans → Doing something with veterans
The Campaign: With a Veteran
Don't just thank a veteran. Get to know one.
For those who already know a veteran, it's an invitation to know them better. For those who don't, USAA creates opportunities to meet through shared interests and experiences.
Because closing the civilian-military divide starts when more Americans can say:
“I know one.”
With A Veteran Campaign Website
Out-Of-Home Advertising
Turning awareness into connection.
WithAVeteran.com is the campaign hub where civilians can learn about veterans, find opportunities to meet them, and share their experiences.
Visitors can discover local activities based on shared interests, explore veteran stories and perspectives, and find resources to better understand the military community.
Participants are encouraged to share their connections using #WithAVeteran, inspiring others to do the same.
Learn. Connect. Share.
Paid Social MEdia
An invitation to connect.
OOH executions turn everyday activities into opportunities for connection, inviting civilians to eat, play, explore, and spend time with a veteran. Each placement drives audiences to WithAVeteran.com to find ways to meet veterans through the interests they already share.
Organic Social Content
Find common ground. Share the connection.
Social content shows the many ways civilians can connect with a veteran, from sports and gaming to food, music, volunteering, and the outdoors. Audiences are directed to WithAVeteran.com to find an experience, then encouraged to share their own connections using #WithAVeteran.
Television & Connected TV (Storyboard)
#WithAVeteran UGC / Social Media Challenge
Civilians and influencers share authentic moments spent with a veteran, highlighting what they learned and the common ground they discovered.
Each participant posts their experience using #WithAVeteran and challenges someone else to make a connection of their own.
Experiential Activation
A :30 spot follows a civilian and veteran connecting over a shared interest, showing how simple conversations can uncover common ground and new perspectives. The film directs viewers to WithAVeteran.com to find an experience and make a connection of their own.
Sports Sponsorships: UTSA Athletics & San Antonio Spurs
Meet through what you already love.
With a Veteran activations bring civilians and veterans together through shared interests, from sports and music to food, fitness, gaming, and volunteering. Each experience creates a natural space to meet, connect, and discover common ground, with WithAVeteran.com helping people find opportunities near them.
Email & CRM
Different backgrounds. Same team.
USAA brings With a Veteran to its UTSA Athletics and San Antonio Spurs partnerships, using the shared passion of sports to connect civilians and veterans. In-game experiences, digital content, and fan activations encourage audiences to meet, watch, and cheer with a veteran, then continue the connection at WithAVeteran.com.
Public Relations & Earned Media
Turning one connection into the next.
A personalized email journey keeps the With a Veteran community engaged through long-form stories, local experiences, event reminders, and opportunities to reconnect. Interest-based content drives readers to WithAVeteran.com to discover new ways to meet, learn from, and spend time with veterans.
Turning connection into conversation.
Earned media amplifies With a Veteran through news coverage, interviews, podcasts, community stories, and sports media. Real stories of civilians and veterans connecting help spark a broader national conversation about closing the civilian-military divide.
Role: Copywriter, Creative Ideation / Development, Strategic Planning
This is an independently developed speculative advertising campaign created for portfolio purposes. It is not affiliated with, commissioned by, or endorsed by USAA. All campaign concepts, creative executions, and mockups are presented to demonstrate my strategic thinking, copywriting, and creative capabilities.