Work
Raising Awareness to Help Save Lives
Helping South Carolina reduce opioid deaths
Situation
The South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) is a government agency that operates over 70 health clinics and over 50 programs, focusing on today's top safety, health, and wellness concerns. In late 2022, DPH, formerly DHEC, announced the new availability of Overdose (OD) Safety Kits. These kits contain doses of the opioid-antidote naloxone and fentanyl test strips, along with educational information on opioid overdoses and resources for treatment of substance use disorder.
For this campaign to work, DPH needed to motivate the public to pick up their own kit. Not only did SC residents need to hear about the benefits of this program, but they also needed to understand the value of taking action. Cyberwoven embraced this challenge by developing a digital marketing strategy that conveys the urgency of the opioid death epidemic and inspires action that could save the life of a friend or family member.
Reaching the Spanish-speaking community
Communicating the severity of the crisis
Solution
A Timely Cause
A coordinated effort developed a comprehensive campaign strategy to augment the ongoing goals of this initiative. Leveraging a straightforward message and a broad audience pool, they set out to address these simple but ambitious goals:
- Prevent opioid deaths and build awareness
- Direct citizens toward free OD safety kits to prepare for emergencies
A Powerful Message
This campaign helped spread the news of this program to users across 150+ SC zip codes and two (2) languages, covering information on opioids, overdoses, and details about the kits. The launch consisted of a combination of standard digital marketing and environmental advertising, with video ads, carousel image ads, social posts, gas station displays and a window cling.
After launching this suite of ads, the team continued to optimize its performance. We analyzed the reception across demographics and then further fine-tuned the messaging to connect with the values of different groups.
Social videos
Impact
The Mission Continues
The aim is to generate awareness in a way that continues to deliver over time. Within the first months of launch, the ad campaign led to a 59% increase in kit distribution over the previous period.
This is one important step in DPH's mission to reduce opioid-related emergencies. As awareness and discussion grow, DPH will be a resource for all people to live safe and healthy lives.