"I absolutely love building my stash with these deals. I will keep coming back for more as long as they are available!"
Amy T.
Verified Purchase

Background

At the start of 2025, Premier® Yarns faced a major excess inventory challenge driven by a backlog of factory seconds – products that didn’t meet the brand’s usual quality standards.

In the yarn world, quality consistency is everything. Even slight manufacturing flaws in chenille yarn can cause shedding, breakage, or uneven texture that ruin a project. Selling these items as-is under their original product name would have risked immediate backlash and long-term damage to reputation. At the same time, the surplus filled valuable warehouse space and tied up capital needed for upcoming launches.

Premier® needed a solution that could move this low-grade inventory quickly without compromising brand trust. As Creative Marketing Manager, I developed a creative, data-informed strategy that reframed the problem entirely by transforming unsellable factory seconds into a community-driven, story led campaign. The result was a revenue-generating program that cleared millions in inventory while protecting the integrity of the brand.

year

2025

my role

Campaign Lead
Brand Strategy
Lead Designer
Creative Direction

campaign type

Revenue Recovery Campaign

skills & tools used

Strategic Positioning · Campaign Development · Brand Storytelling · Audience Segmentation · Market Analysis · Data-Driven Optimization · Cross-Functional Leadership · E-Commerce Strategy · Creative Direction · Community Marketing

Google Analytics · Shopify · Klaviyo · Meta Business Suite · Later · Canva · Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign)

Audience Insights & Market Research

To shape this campaign around real customer behavior, I started by analyzing purchase data, social engagement, and survey feedback. In the yarn community, a “stash” refers to the personal collection of yarns crafters keep on hand for future projects. The campaign turned that familiar concept into a playful goal: building, organizing, and celebrating your stash with purpose, without breaking the bank.

From that insight, I developed two representative personas: Sara, a beginner drawn to small, achievable projects and social-media inspiration and Marisol, an experienced small-business maker focused on product quality, stock, and value per skein.

These personas guided how I structured every touchpoint of the campaign. Sara informed the approachable, community and hype driven tone and messaging, while Marisol shaped the retention strategy such as bulk discounts, restock reminders, and transparent product description and copy. Together, these two personas kept this campaign's strategy balanced between inspiration and practicality, ensuring Stash Goals felt valuable to all target audiences.

To better understand how Stash Goals could stand apart, I examined how competing yarn brands communicate and execute overstock promotions. Most competitors rely on predictable tactics such as warehouse sales, retail markdowns, or coupon events. My goal was to reimagine that experience through a branded lens: one rooted in creativity, surprise, and community participation rather than generic clearance language.

Creative Direction & Brand Identity

To connect with both the trend-conscious beginner persona and the experienced small-business maker persona, the campaign needed a visual identity that was eye-catching, modern, and aligned with current design trends in the fiber arts industry.

The campaign name drew from social-era language around achievement and motivation. Using “Stash Goals” referenced phrases like squad goals to create a confident, modern tone that felt current but approachable. Paired with a hashtag and conversational voice, it encouraged participation and turned buying yarn into something to celebrate and share.

From Concept to Campaign

With the visual identity and campaign voice defined, the next step was putting the concept into motion. Each of the four clear Stash Goals strategy phases built on the last to turn creative direction into action and deliver fast, tangible results.

Audit & Identify

I started by reviewing data and identifying our most popular colorways, purchasing trends, and repeat-buy behavior. I identified how to position the campaign without falling into “factory-second” or low-quality product language. This insight helped me shape a smoother, more aspirational story—one that solved a real business challenge while staying true to what motivated makers to buy and build their stash.

concept & Story

I developed Stash Goals as a campaign that reframed overstock as opportunity. Instead of simply discounting excess inventory, I positioned it as a limited-time event to “build your budget-friendly stash with your friends.” This language kept the message positive and community-oriented.

design & activation

Once the messaging was decided, I began by focusing on authentic activation. I sent free product to a select group of affiliate members who represented both target audiences—the casual crafter and the small-business maker. These makers received the yarn with no script, no additional payment, and only one request: share an honest post or video about the product's quality and usability. This zero-paid-promotion approach built genuine trust, generating organic buzz across social channels while keeping the conversation rooted in community support rather than advertising.

retain & reinforce

After the initial launch, sales began to build steadily through word of mouth and repeat engagement. Many customers returned to purchase more Stash Goals after being pleasantly surprised by their first order, buying double or triple the amount on subsequent rounds. That repeat behavior quickly and efficiently cleared through the remaining backlog, proving that authentic engagement and accessible pricing could sustain momentum without heavy promotion or ad spend.

Together, these strategic phases created a self-sustaining cycle of engagement where curiosity drove the first purchase, satisfaction inspired the second, and community storytelling carried the campaign forward. The map below outlines how each touchpoint guided makers from discovery to repeat purchase.

Organic Social Media Buzz

Results & Takeaways

Stash Goals became one of the company's most successful promotions to date, driving astronomical sales and continuing to perform even months after launch. What started as a practical response to overstock evolved into a community-powered movement fueled by excitement, transparency, and value. The campaign proved that affordability doesn’t have to undermine brand perception, it can elevate it when framed with creativity and intention.

Through this project, I learned how to balance storytelling with strategy, and how honest, community-first marketing can transform logistical challenges into growth opportunities.

‍Stash Goals taught me that when people feel included, they not only spend money, they come back, share with others the deal they've discovered, and become part of something bigger than the sale itself.

Looking back, moving forward

Every campaign teaches me something new. These are the insights I’d build on to make Stash Goals even more engaging and community-driven if presented with this same problem in the future.

Reflection #1
If I were to run the campaign again, I would lean further into the mystery pack concept and build a stronger sense of anticipation around it. The excitement of product quality surprise was a clear driver for engagement, and expanding that element could have amplified participation through “blind box” hype, unboxings, and social sharing.
Reflection #2
If I were to build strategy for this campaign again, I would shape the Stash Goals framework to include all sale and excess inventory, not just overstock. Applying the same storytelling and value-driven approach across more product categories could turn this one-time promotion into a recurring, brand-owned experience that builds long-term loyalty.