Situational Analysis
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) – Injury Prevention Service tasked Freestyle Creative to launch a campaign that builds empathy amongst Oklahomans and strengthens the feeling of connectedness in their communities, as understanding empathy helps to further initiate conversations between individuals who may need support in difficult situations. 


Goals
To build empathy, first we had to educate Oklahomans on what empathy means. We developed three main goals:
– Define empathy and create awareness of connectedness to help reduce stigmas
– Showcase how empathy and connectedness improve social norms 
– Create brand awareness of resources available to better help others 

Strategy
A key element was preliminary research, prior to the campaign launch. We partnered with Evolve Research to conduct surveys, facilitate focus groups, and analyze data to help identify target demographics and test messaging that would resonate with our audience (Oklahomans over the age of 18). This data allowed us to hone messaging, visuals, and media placement strategies well ahead of the campaign launch. 

Research would also measure the campaign’s success through brand lift and message recognition testing at the end of the campaign. 

Creative
Our goal was to create assets that were thought-provoking and relatable. We landed on our tagline, ‘Take Time,’ which illustrated that by taking time to ask questions and actively listen, you can build empathy and connections within your community. 

Creative showcased a combination of bright, branded color stories, empathetic conversation starters, and custom photography and video showcasing not only empathetic conversations, but also the positive results these conversations can have. 

Promotion – Media Placements
With the overarching goal of raising awareness, we deployed a considerable number of media placements through a wide variety of mediums and channels. Our call-to-action was to drive people to the TakeTimeOK.com landing page, which houses more information about the campaign and provides downloadable resources.

The media strategy aimed to reach adults in both urban and rural areas of Oklahoma with a high frequency of ads in a variety of mediums and channels:

– Print materials such as billboards, printed posters, and a direct mail piece distributed to over 100,000 homes.
– Broadcast television and radio covering much of the state.
– Digital tactics, such as social media advertising, programmatic placements (CTV/OTT/Display), etc.
– Spanish advertisements were placed to reach Oklahoma’s large Spanish-speaking population.

Campaign Results
The ‘Take Time’ campaign ran April – October 2023. In just seven months, the campaign garnered the following results: 
 
– 76,357 Landing Page Views 
– 171,675,390 out-of-home impressions 
– 4,489 TV spots aired 
– 116,283 clicks to the website from paid ads 
– And more!

Research 
The goal of educating Oklahomans about empathy and connectedness, creating brand awareness and recall, was overwhelmingly met. From pre-campaign research in February 2023 to post-campaign research in October 2023, results considerably increased from 35% vs. 60%. Final research also showed that Oklahomans are more likely to define empathy as feeling what others feel and describe it as understanding, compassion, and sympathy now than they were before the campaign’s launch.