The Jacksonville-based ad agency works in partnership with national media alliance to donate creative services in support of the CDC’s COVID-19 awareness efforts
A new national public service campaign has hit the airwaves with a life-saving message to 13-34 year olds: “Don’t Stop ‘doing what you love,’ Just Stop the Spread and Stay Home.” In support of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) efforts to help stop the spread of COVID-19, Jacksonville-based ad agency Brunet-García (B|G) donated its services to develop the campaign as part of a national coalition of media, technology and entertainment companies, called MediaSavingLives.
Brunet-García specializes in creating campaigns that invoke positive social and behavioral change with a focus on public health. The spread of COVID-19 has affected the physical and mental health of people around the world, many with local, regional, and nationwide stay-at-home orders.
“As this pandemic and the resulting stay-at-home orders became commonplace, we identified a need to educate and inspire young people to heed the health warnings and to stay home,” said Michael Preacher, iHeart’s president of partnerships and government initiatives. “Together with other major media partners, we founded MediaSavingLives and established that we would collectively donate 1 billion youth targeted media impressions. As we sought a creative partner to bring the campaign to life, our first call was to Brunet-García because of their consistent breakthrough concepts, especially on public awareness effort.”
For the first phase of the campaign, B|G created a direct call-to-action for young Americans to do their part to stop the spread while continuing to do what inspires them, just from home. The focal point is “Don’t Stop,” which is supported by a variety of everyday activities that people are still doing at home from singing to creating to celebrating.
“B|G is built on a foundation of creating breakthrough messaging and content. Now is the time to promote the importance of social distancing across generations,” said Jorge Brunet-García, the agency’s president and CEO. “Through the dedication, hard work, and adaptability of our team, we have created a relevant campaign, inspiring America’s younger generation to stay true to themselves while adapting to this new normal.”
The agency scoured the social and digital media landscape to identify how those in the target age group, 13-34, were staying engaged during the quarantine. Because artists, musicians, and everyone else have taken to social media to connect and share with others during the nationwide shelter-in-place, Brunet-García identified user-generated content on the internet and social media that demonstrates how real people are adapting to the “new normal.” MediaSavingLives also garnered the support of celebrity influencers to lend their voice in supporting the critical message of the campaign. The campaign will evolve, and messaging will adapt to the ever-changing landscape presented by the coronavirus pandemic.
“We wanted to frame the current situation in a positive way and connect emotionally with our audience,” Eduardo Sarmiento, B|G’s EVP of creative offered. “Our tone is edgy but responsible. We capitalized on the creativity and humor of actual Americans reinventing themselves and our nation to move forward and stop the spread.”
Formed in mid-March and organized in conjunction with iHeartMedia, the number one audio company in the United States, and ICX Media, a leader in audience, content intelligence and analytics, the MediaSavingLives Alliance is committed to supporting the public throughout the pandemic and beyond and will evolve its youth-targeted messaging focused on staying home, testing and eventually vaccination. The campaign is expected to deliver more than a billion impressions through media donated by iHeartMedia, ICX Media, ZypMedia, Rubicon Project /Telaria, SpotX, Yieldmo, OUTFRONT Media, GroundTruth, Division-D and Zeta Global.
The PSAs will appear in the following formats, ensuring wide-ranging reach and frequency among the target audience: in-home and on-the move platforms, OTT, display, video, digital out-of-home, and iHeartMedia owned platforms, including streaming audio, podcast, display, video, and broadcast. In addition to the donated media, the campaign is being offered, to local, state, and federal government entities to support their calls-to-action during the pandemic.
“This opportunity to donate our creative services and to be part of the MediaSavingLives coalition was a no-brainer,” added Diane Brunet-García, B|G’s co-founder and chief operating officer. “Being able to deliver such an important message right now is an honor, and we’re fortunate to be able to continue giving back even under these circumstances.”
