The Frederick County (MD) Health Department/Behavioral Health Services division needed to unify the branding and messaging for its various prevention initiatives, which includes opioid misuse, binge drinking, and smoking/tobacco use. Each program’s materials had their own independent presentation and messaging approach, with little to no consistency between the programs. After we had previously developed and implemented a campaign focused exclusively on the division’s opioid prevention efforts, the County hired as to create an overarching sub-brand for all of its substance abuse programs.
Our branding platform for the full range of the County’s prevention programs revolved around the theme of “Stay in the Know,” which placed more emphasis on facts and information about misused substances to educate young adults than on shock and scare imagery and messaging. We incorporated this sub-branding on a landing page, information cards and posters, a brochure, social media posts, as well as videos featuring actors narrating true-to-life scenarios.