Recover for Life

We were hired by Franklin County Public Health (FCPH) to create an anti-stigma campaign tackling addiction, with a focus on opioids. The opioid epidemic has been paralyzing this Ohio community with a 73% increase in overdose deaths since 2019.

Cut to the Chase

Challenge

We got to work in early 2020. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in four consecutive weeks of opioid overdose surges resulting in several deaths. Our assignment took a pivot, instead of focusing on addressing the stigma our attention turned to the overdose surge situation, and we created a not-to-be-ignored campaign titled, “FCK Addiction.”

This unexpected pivot in our assignment provided an opportunity to gain insight into the community. We held focus groups with our audiences (individuals with addiction and loved ones of those in addiction), and sent a survey to community stakeholders to better understand thoughts and opinions about the campaign and the epidemic. They talked. And we listened.

They needed a sense of “hope” and positivity.

Solution

It was this insight for a sense of hope that laid the foundation for the second phase of our work with FCPH, tackling the original assignment to create an anti-stigma campaign. “Recover for Life” was born, with the intention to unite a community and end stigma, reaching residents behaviorally and contextually along the recovery continuum (whether someone in addiction, a loved one, or a community member).

As part of this campaign, we felt that the recovery from addiction deserved its own symbol, one that communicates the very real journey one goes through when they are in addiction. For that reason, a flower with thorns was created for this campaign. Why? Because recovery means growing as a person. It means going through serious hardship. It means letting support in as well as being supportive. It means finding hope and knowing that hope will always bloom. A flower with thorns perfectly represents the imperfect journey to recovery.

Results

The results are in:

The campaign sparked a community rallying cry using local artists, creating a platform both in our wall mural and online for everyone (not just those experiencing addiction) to make a “promise” and recover for life
Our PR launch event (even amidst COVID) centered garnered 18.7 million potential audience reach and 882K coverage views, with 3 of 4 major networks attending the launch and a $55K publicity value
Social and digital campaign supported by traditional media to reach residents effectively and efficiently:
- Garnered 23.7M impressions within Franklin County
- Earned a click-through rate (CTR) of 0.20%. Phase 1 Recover for Life achieved a 43% increase in CTR flight-over-flight.
- Reached 1.7M individual Franklin County residents (over 50% of the population) through Recover For Life social media ads across Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
- Drove over 34K users to the Franklin County Recovers site for more information after seeing a Recover For Life ad.

View More Work

We helped a local epidemic by understanding a global pandemic.