How a brand turned a misconception about presciption drugs on its head in a compelling and powerful way
Brand: National Safety Council Agency: Energy BBDO
In 2016, the National Safety Council was largely an unknown brand in its native US. While the public service body was unrelentingly active in eliminating the causes of preventable deaths , the organisation had failed to build its own brand.
But the realisation that in doing so would serve its raison d’être — saving lives — spurred it into action.
While Americans were understandably worried about the idea of unpredictable, once-in-a-lifetime deaths, they were less concerned about those accidents more likely to kill them — everyday deaths. The slogan and brand platform “Stop Everyday Killers” was conceived to turn this misconception on its head. The campaign was set in motion by educating consumers about one of the most overlooked, yet deadly, causes of household death — prescription opioids.
The US is aware of its widespread use of opioids, yet paradoxically there was a belief that opioid addiction or overdose would not happen to them. The NSC set out to debunk the myth.
The centrepiece of “Prescribed to Death” was a memorial wall built using the faces of 22,000 victims carved into pills. Opening in Chicago and subsequently touring the rest of the US, new faces were carved and added every 24 minutes — marking the average time between opioid overdose deaths.
The memorial was promoted on Facebook, via the NSC's owned channels, and on local radio, OOH and donated ad space. The campaign overturned perceptions of the brand, accruing one billion impressions and driving a 45% increase in the perception of the NSC as a "leader in fighting preventable deaths", while more than 104,000 Americans stuck "Warn Me" stickers on their insurance cards to spark conversations with their doctors.