Overview
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (MT DPHHS) contracted KAI to create a digital media campaign in Montana, broken out into three sections: 1) a campaign to increase generalized awareness of mental health resources, 2) a suicide-prevention campaign focused on white men ages 25–45, and 3) a suicide-prevention campaign focused on AI/AN men ages 18–24. The campaigns targeted American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations in both reservations and urban areas, as well as the general population in Montana.
Challenges
To maintain and monitor statewide attitude shifts toward marketing and messaging of the campaign in which to perform further outreach, as audiences may be particularly receptive to new information from year to year, and to continue to develop new ways in which to communicate effective messaging that shifts the opinions and stigmas associated with mental health and suicide awareness.
Solution
As part of the communications plan, KAI recommended that the general population be broken down by age and by cultural groupings. KAI’s communications team created, placed, and monitored the campaigns concerning mental health resources. The breakdown of targeted audiences provides for generalized awareness messaging and for specific suicide prevention messaging for each target demographic . KAI drafted a plan including branding, social media posts and graphics, digital media ads, medial placements, and monthly marketing reports, plus a list of recommended media buys and key terms for monitoring.
Results
The campaign was very successful, breaking through the noise of an inauguration and changing COVID-19 restrictions and variants, and it resulted in a significantly larger contract with MT DPHHS for the current year focusing on addressing the ongoing opioid epidemic.
