We had to build an integrated communication campaign to generate awareness of the issue with an attempt to have the campaign serve as a an agent of change. We chose PTSD and came up with this campaign.
4. Creative Brief
OBJECTIVE: The goal of this campaign is to establish awareness of both the mental and physical impacts (PTSD) on service
members after they come back from their deployments.
STRATEGY: As a campaign, we want to say to our audience that they should not forget about what service members are going
through, because even if they are not overseas: they are still facing personal battles mentally and physically from
their terms of duty.
AUDIENCE: Beyond just the family members and close friends, we want to extend the awareness to people who might not
have personal connections to someone in the military. Despite this, the audience should care because the
Individuals’ personal sacrifices to protect our audience are what brought on his/her own battle afterwards. The
goal is for the audience to recognize that this could very well be their parent, sibling, friend, neighbor, etc. and
even though it might now be: it matters that they start to care about these service members.
CHANNELS: We will use a guerilla-marketing tactic to spread awareness across various platforms. Our outdoor campaign will
be conducted by creating awareness signs for yards. As well, we will use print and create a 30 second TV ad.
Additionally, we will have a 2-minute digital video and make digital info graphics.
TACTICS: The tone of this campaign is serious, but optimistic. Strength is an integral aspect of these men and women, along
with their battles, and should be incorporated in the campaign.
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5. COMPETITION: Various programs, such as USO, American Red Cross, Operation Homefront, and others that centralize around
assistance to service members will be our primary competition. The brands mentioned above are leading
the genre because they have established prevalence and dominance over the past few decades. Their
name recognition gives them an advantage, but our mission is different because it focuses on the
awareness of these issues. Rather than solely focusing on the service members, we want to integrate
the unconnected individuals into this campaign.
Engagement: People will contribute and become involved by donating their time, putting forth effort to be courteous of
veterans (especially around specific things, such as Fourth of July. We want to bridge the gap between
people who want to help out, and people actually knowing how to help.
EXTENSIONS: People’s word of mouth will help provide a solid foundation of followers within the military community.
Overtime, we can host events for the service men and women after we raise money through donations.
LAUNCH: We are going to get to where we are capable of hosting events for the service members by launching a full-force,
integrated campaign throughout various media. We are not limiting our campaign to one specific platform, and
therefore will help gain recognition more quickly.
6. About the W.A.R Project
A recent study found veteran suicide rates to be as high as 8,000 individuals a year. This statistic correlates to
the widespread increase in cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) overtaking the minds of veterans.
According to an additional study done by RAND Corporation, 20% of U.S. Iraqi/Afghanistan veterans have
PTSD and/or depression. However, 50% of these men and women who host this illness do not
seek assistance, and of those who seek treatment: only half claim they receive adequate
treatment for their PTSD. The Warrior Ailment Resilience (W.A.R.) Project was created to
spread awareness of this life threatening mental condition that has consumed
the minds of so many veterans. Through an integrated campaign, the W.A.R.
Project will use print, digital, guerilla marketing, a TV spot, as well
as outdoor advertising to help citizens outside the immediate
realm of service men and women’s lives to understand the
magnitude of PTSD. In addition, the W.A.R. Project will
host a firework-less Fourth of July event for
veterans to attend at various locations
around the United States, in order to
allow those who have served to
enjoy a holiday they fight
so hard to maintain
for all citizens.
THE
W.A.R.
Project
www.thewarproject.org
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7. Print
Our campaign has multiple dimensions for print advertisements. In the initial phase of the print ad campaign,
we would use the soldier and the sunglasses ad as well as the rear view mirror ad to promote the idea of what
these soldiers have “seen” and still are seeing. Components of sight will cause us to intrigue our audience in the
ways we show how these veterans see things that aren’t there (or have episodes where they think something
is happening and it isn’t).
We will run our print ad campaigns in national magazines and newspapers due to the fact that this is such
a national issue, and holds no specific geographic region hostage individually. Print media that target both men
and women, such as TIME magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post will be our ideal platforms
to promote the campaign.
8. In the next phase, we will post a series of
campaigns where people are dressed in their
“everyday” outfits, but still have an aspect
of their service uniform. In this regard, we are
representing that their time in the service is
still an integral part of who they are, even if
they are going about their everyday life.
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9. Once the W.A.R. Project establishes itself and name recognition,
we will phase in the ads similar to the one we have of the soldier
entering his home, stating, “The toughest battle begins at home.”
10. Guerilla Marketing
Around various cities, we will place guerilla
marketing efforts in order to establish a shock-factor
in the audience. We will create a cutout image of a soldier
sitting down on bus stop benches, with the phrases, “Take a look
through my eyes” and “Sit here” underneath. People may sit in the
spot of the soldier, and then be able to look across and see the pictures of
a burning car (in order to resemble something similar to what current soldiers
dear in Iraq and Afghanistan) as well as soldiers entering a jungle, like they did in
Vietnam. The logo and website are on both the bottom corner of the war scenes as well
as on the bus stop itself, so people will know where to go to receive more information.
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13. Guerilla Marketing
With smart phones and all the various technology people use to access the internet so
quickly, we believe that they will search www.thewarproject.org almost immediately. Additionally,
we will create booths that people can walk into in various places that have 360° view of the
actual area they are currently in, however, with added scenarios. There will be images of snipers,
fires, explosions, etc. that will help indicate what a veteran with PTSD might have flashes of in
their own minds, while in these exact same places. In the booths, we will have information for
people to receive on the W.A.R. project and its initiatives.
14. Television
A man is in his office doing his work, he packs up his stuff and heads out the door. There is an invisible
line he crosses when he exits the office building, and he is suddenly in his military uniform - holding his gun
and is about to perform a “breach and clear” (when they enter the homes of a potential terrorist). When he
goes through the house’s door, he goes through another invisible line, and he is back in the parking lot of
his office about to enter his car. The screen will then fade to black and say, “The toughest battle begins at
home,” followed by our slogan: “Helping those who’ve seen so you don’t have to.” Another black screen will
appear with our logo, and our website underneath for people to visit.
Our Television spots will run during primetime on various networks that appeal to both
ideologies, such as: Fox, CNN, NBC, as well as CBS. We will run our ads twice during the week
(Monday and Wednesday) as well as on the weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).
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17. Additionally, we will create a 2 minute video about a soldier with PTSD. It
will be a mini documentary and just how PTSD has effected not only his life, but the
others around him. We would like others to get a look inside a soldiers mind and to understand
how big a problem PTSD is in our communities. We would follow him around and catch his PTSD
when it naturally happens and well as any other thoughts he has go through his head. At
the end, like the TV commercial., the tag line and logo would come up.
We plan to run this on online television outlets such as Hulu and CBS. We will launch
the video during PTSD awareness month and will use it as a learning experience for others.
We hope that both soldiers and the general public will watch it. We believe that it will help
soldiers who need help come forward, and other to be more aware and help out with the
cause.
For digital advertisements we decided to do a
series of info-graphics posted on social media as well
as create a website that is a resource for individuals to
learn more about PTSD.
18. Outdoor | Events
We decided to take a non traditional approach to
outdoor advertising in the form of yard signs. They would
be included in care-packages for families with returning
veterans or current veterans and promote PTSD awareness.
They would request other to be courteous of fire works and
other things that could set soldiers off.
We also decided to create an event for the soldiers
who can’t enjoy one of our countries most patriotic days,
the 4th of July. Fireworks set a lot of soldiers PTSD off, so
we created a Firework-less Fourth of July Event in Big Cities
around the country. We will host an event two days before
the actual Fourth of July, all soldiers will be invited, and it
will be a big party that honors the 4th, but doesn’t
set off fireworks.
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19.
20. Kate Campbell & Nichole Wierschem
THE
W.A.R.
Project
THE
W.A.R.
Project
www.thewarproject.org