“Harm Reduction Saves Lives” Public Service Campaign

Background

In 2021, Luceo began creative development and production of a national public service advertising campaign for Vital Strategies, an international non-profit organization focused on public health and combating the causes of preventable death.  The campaign’s goal was two-fold: to increase public awareness at the national level of the effectiveness of harm reduction services, and to counter stigma faced by people who use drugs (PWUD) to help increase the provision of harm reduction services in local communities.  The “Harm Reduction Saves Lives” campaign was finalized and released in the first quarter of 2022, through both national and regionally-targeted media delivery platforms, including broadcast television, podcasts, social/digital advertising, programmatic web/video, OOH (out-of-home) advertising, and a full-page print ad in the New York Times.

Objective

• To raise awareness of the effectiveness of harm reduction services as a means of preventing overdose deaths and improving the health of people who use drugs

• To counter stigma faced by people who use drugs and generate positive perception and consideration of harm reduction as an important component of community health

• To create a sense of urgency, compassion, and shared responsibility among the public and key influencers/policymakers toward ending the crisis of overdose deaths

• Positioning harm reduction as an essential aspect of the solution to this crisis 

Deliverables

• 15-second/30-second video advertisements for broadcast television, connected TV/streaming, and digital/social platforms

• Harm reduction explainer video for campaign website

• OOH (Out-of-home) advertising materials, including mobile billboards

• Digital materials for social media, mobile, and web placements

• Scripts for host-read podcast advertisements

• Campaign website landing page and associated web assets (full website design/development, including interactive, user-generated Overdose Memorial mosaic and translations of website copy and videos for both English- and Spanish-speaking users)

• Full-page print advertisement for placement in the New York Times

• Media strategy, media buying, and ad placement services

Insights

#1 Harm reduction programs are valuable, life-saving services that improve the health of people who use drugs

#2 Stigma surrounding harm reduction obscures public perception of its positive effects

#3 Centering a campaign on real people with lived experience counters stigma faced by people who use drugs and helps normalize harm reduction services as safe, practical, and necessary

#4 Focusing attention on the real stories of lives lost to overdose humanizes the toll of the overdose crisis

Solution

Luceo developed key messaging, materials, and advertising placements for a widespread public awareness campaign.  This awareness campaign consisted of national components as well as a focus on key audiences and target markets in 5 states/regions (PA, NJ, MI, CT, and Washington, D.C.).  Key audiences included people who use drugs and service providers for PWUD, legislators and policymakers at the national and regional level, and other constituents and community members affected by increased opioid use and overdose.  In collaboration with harm reduction programs and associated stakeholders, Luceo identified and cast campaign subjects from a pool of “harm reduction success stories.”  These subjects represent people whose lives were saved by harm reduction and who have devoted themselves to helping others through provision of these vital services.  Media channels and formats (including traditional, digital, and programmatic web deployment) were selected to optimize efficiency and success in converting identified target audiences.  A website landing page and associated web assets were developed to further engage and inform audiences about harm reduction as a successful approach to tackling the crisis of overdose deaths.  The campaign site includes a custom web-tool designed to enable both website visitors and social media users to share real stories of lives lost to overdose, further humanizing PWUD and the faces of the overdose crisis.

Results

The campaign was released  in February of 2022 with a full-page ad in the New York Times, the launch of the campaign website, and additional ad placements across various platforms.  In just the following three months, the campaign achieved proven success according to multiple key performance indicators, including but not limited to 181.5K+ clicks for digital assets, 1.9M+ completed video views on connected-TV/streaming, 8.5M+ programmatic web and YouTube ad supported environments, over 6,000 airings of video ads on cable TV networks in Washington, D.C., and 591K+ impressions of digital Overdose Memorial messaging.  The campaign continues to reach target audiences, attract website visitors to learn more, and engage community leaders and policymakers in a conversation about the important role of harm reduction in preventing and reducing overdose deaths.