Our Work: No Safe Experience
New Hampshire's anti-fentanyl marketing campaign highlights why there's No Safe Experience
CLIENT: NH Department of Safety
In 2023, Cookson Communications was selected to develop and run the No Safe Experience anti-fentanyl statewide public awareness campaign. This collaborative effort with the NH Department of Safety, NH State Police, and the prevention community focuses on educating people about the prevalence of fentanyl in illicit drugs. Its main goal is to heighten awareness that there is No Safe Experience when it comes to drug usage.
What We Did
- Campaign management
- Branding and logo design
- Website design
- Video creative direction
- Digital and social media marketing
- Outdoor advertising
- Public relations and event management
- School engagement/assemblies
Campaign management
It takes a village to make a campaign of this importance and magnitude work. We partnered with the NH Department of Safety, the NH State Police, the prevention community, and the Governor’s Youth Advisory Council (GYAC) to develop and implement a marketing campaign that would reach its audiences. The purpose: Educate and spread awareness that there is No Safe Experience with deadly fentanyl and illicit substances.
We hit every angle of the landscape with posters, rack cards, decals, bracelets, social creative/posts, videos, and a website, using stats and facts about fentanyl’s prevalence, its many forms, and how lethal it is, even in the smallest dose. We set and reached our goals of bringing awareness to those at risk while educating people on substance misuse and premature loss of life. The campaign also inspired parents to educate their children(s) and friends about the presence and dangers of fentanyl in communities.
Social graphics
Branding and logo design
While drug use isn’t black and white, it eventually turns what may have once been vibrant lives to gray. The Cookson creative team developed a stark red-and-black color scheme using gritty fonts and monochromatic images of pills, powders, and other substances to bring the seriousness of the epidemic to the forefront. The powerful designs stood out for miles on billboards, social media channels, and other collateral across New Hampshire.
Microsite design
The Cookson web team hosts, manages, and maintains the website, which is built on the WordPress platform. We utilize a custom theme designed and developed by our creative team. This theme was created in alignment with the branding guidelines established for the campaign. We utilized animations to enhance interactivity with statistical information, making a greater impact on the audience.
Since its inception, nearly 100,000 users have engaged with the site, highlighting the dangers of fentanyl in illicit drugs and equipping youth, young adults, and families in New Hampshire with essential facts and awareness.
Commercial creative direction
The Cookson creative team worked with New Sky Productions to produce a series of compelling ad spots that are hard-hitting but avoid the overt scare tactics often used in anti-drug campaigns. Some feature ingredient facts, while others get to the heart of who has been lost. These spots feature symbolic items missing their “person” – a skateboard, a grad gown, a prom dress. The absence is felt even more with “Don’t Let Mom Worry”, where an NH State Trooper is forced to deliver dreaded news to family members.
Digital marketing
You can’t build viral-level awareness without social media, so we leveraged all relevant channels with organic and paid placements. Social graphics and messaging were provided to the NH State Troopers, NH EMS, and NH Fire Chiefs to share on their social media platforms for added organic engagement. Marketing utilized Google AdWords, display ad campaigns, Spotify, Snapchat, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, Vibe, targeted mobile ads and WMUR-TV paid digital ads. The numbers are impressive – see for yourself!
Total Impressions: The total number of times the campaign ads were seen by users across all marketing efforts.
Total Link Clicks: The total number of times the link in the ad were visited by users.
Total impressions across the following platforms:
Google display, Audio, Paid Meta (FB & IG), Organic FB & IG), Reddit, Snapchat, WMUR/News, Website, TV
Total link clicks across the following platforms:
Display, Paid Meta (FB & IG), Reddit, Snapchat, WMUR/News
Outdoor advertising
To create impactful billboards, the creative team mirrored the website for consistency and drove home (pun intended?) the core message that “There is No Safe Experience.” The messaging was easy to understand within seconds and was located in multiple high-traffic locations throughout New Hampshire, reaching 4,294,293 people.
Public Relations and Event Management
Spring 2023 kickoff event
We kicked off the No Safe Experience campaign with a press conference with Governor Sununu, state police and other leaders which was carried by statewide media, including WMUR. Media releases with fact sheets and related imagery were widely disseminated and ran in multiple media outlets throughout New Hampshire, increasing awareness.
Public Relations and Event Management
August 21, 2024: National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day
While the DEA recognizes this day of awareness nationally, Governor Sununu signed a proclamation on behalf of No Safe Experience (NSE) to commemorate National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day as an official fentanyl prevention and awareness day in the state of NH. Manchester City Hall was illuminated in red to show support for the day of awareness. In Concord, The Hotel Concord was also illuminated red for the same reason.
Public Relations and Event Management
School engagement / assemblies
In September of 2024, posters, rack cards, decals and rubber bracelets were printed and mailed to 216 NH upper-middle and high schools. This included a letter from the Commissioner of NHED requesting that schools post and share materials for the No Safe Experience campaign. Additionally, updated campaign merch was sent to the Communications Office at NHED and distributed to NH principals in their June 2024 meeting.
Cookson team members also facilitated multiple school assemblies with a special guest: a mom who lost her son to fentanyl. She bravely presented facts and spread awareness about the No Safe Experience campaign, bringing a face to the tragedy of the NH fentanyl epidemic.
“
Fentanyl is the leading killer amongst the illegal drugs in our state, and we need to continue to put that awareness on it.
Mark Hall
NH State Police Colonel
