There were three main goals of ReachNJ. First, the campaign aimed to increase contacts to the ReachNJ Call Center from individuals and families seeking help with opioid addiction, and the campaign was very successful on this end as shown by call center reports which display an increase in calls while ads were running. Secondly, the campaign aimed to educate NJ residents on the dangers and signs of opioid and heroin addiction and how to get help through ReachNJ, which was achieved through educational ads dedicated to "knowing the signs" of addiction. Finally, the campaign aimed to reduce the stigma associated with drug addiction, accomplished through highlighting stories of several unique people impacted by addiction, such as young professionals, parents who lost their children to addiction, and sports figures. With a budget of about $42 million, the campaign utilized a highly refined digital targeting strategy as one key component.
Kivvit developed a multi-channel strategic education campaign that was broad enough in its messaging and media placement to engage NJ's diverse population, while incorporating ads on multiple platforms to ensure those most likely to be suffering from addiction, who are harder to reach through typical media, would be engaged, as well. Beyond executing a strategic education campaign, the campaign built the ReachNJ brand as a broad platform to access information on addiction and recovery options. We developed multiple audiences to reflect the state's diversity and to make sure ads resonated with each audience.
Once audiences were identified, the paid media outreach plan was developed to ensure full coverage of key geographic regions (Atlantic, Camden, Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean Counties) and optimal media platforms and targeting for each platform were developed.
The media placement strategy for the public awareness portion of this campaign was anchored by a cable, radio, OOH and online advertising strategy to ensure ads were running for the entirety of the campaign. Since the NYC and PHL media markets are the 2nd and 4th most expensive in the country, broadcast buys supplemented the cable TV spends and correlated with the release of new creative. The ongoing digital strategy was robust, highly refined and designed to meet carious audiences based on where they were online and included, desktop and mobile display, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, digital radio and connective TV.
All of the above was crucial in Kivvit's overall strategy of establishing and growing ReachNJ's brand. Creating the brand helped to "cut through the noise" in the extremely crowded NYC and Philadelphia media markets over a relatively short period of time (as compared to other major public awareness campaigns). Establishing the brand also helped to validate its significance as a trustworthy resource by creating instant recognition and familiarity.
ReachNJ promoted outreach to 1-844-REACH NJ, a statewide hotline for opioid addicts and their loved ones to get help. Through the duration of the campaign, there were a total of 17,026 calls to the hotline. There was a clear and direct correlation between calls to the hotline and ReachNJ ads, with our metrics showing The first chart displays a drastic drop in calls when ads were not running. Also, After the campaign ended on January 16th, 2018, call center contacts immediately dropped. These ads did not only impact the statewide hotline – calls to the Mental Health Association of NJ hotline more than doubled while ReachNJ ads were running.
ReachNJ website numbers also clearly correlate to when ads were running. For instance, when the campaign began, the website saw 1,613 average users per day. When the campaign paused in the summer months, this numbed dropped to 157. Once the campaign began again in September 2017 and lasted through January 2018, the number drastically increased to 4,070, correlating to a high frequency and reach of new ads.
Finally, ReachNJ consistently performed above industry standard engagement rates, especially for key platforms such as Snapchat for the youth audience and YouTube and Pre-Roll videos.
