Case Study Seize the Awkward Campaign - Connie Gabelein

Case Study Seize the Awkward Campaign - Connie Gabelein (1)
Case Study Seize the Awkward Campaign - Connie Gabelein (2)

Case Study Seize the Awkward Campaign - Connie Gabelein (3)
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Introduction

This piece is a case study that I created for COMSTRAT 565: Marketing Communication Management and Campaigns in Fall 2024. My instructor was Dr. Erika Schlomer-Fischer.

The assignment was to prepare a three page case study for an existing strategic communication campaign. It needed to be a mass media campaign focused on promoting a prosocial behavior, and completed within the past ten years. 

COMSTRAT 565 Course Overview

COMSTRAT 565 provides an overview of basic behavior change theories with a focus on strategic marketing campaign design and evaluation. As one of the final courses in the strategic communication master’s program, it draws on the information from the previous courses. Students learn to use theory and research to more effectively plan, design, execute and evaluate strategic communication messages and campaigns.

In addition to reading, research, participating in discussions, and creating campaign case studies, each student completes a final strategic communication campaign proposal. Students work with the professor at the start of the semester to identify the topic or organization that will be the focus of this semester-long project. Students gather information and collect formative research to prepare a proposal for a theory-based campaign.

After completion of the course, students should be able to demonstrate how to implement and evaluate theory-driven communication campaigns and campaign messages.

Project Background

Suicide is a social issue that is personally significant for me, as I lost a close family member this way. As I began to research this topic to help cope with my own grief, I was horrified to learn more about how common it is, and the rates at which deaths by suicide are increasing.

I have researched suicide influences and media contagion throughout my academic journey and enjoyed digging into the question of whether suicidology research should be more qualitative or quantitative. I discovered that this is heavily debated among scholars. Most of the research on suicide influences has been quantitative but many argue that this dependence on more analytical methods limits our understanding of the complexity of suicide. Many scholars are advocating for a mixed methods approach to suicidology research which takes advantage of both qualitative and quantitative methods.

As I started to look at potential subjects for my case study, I knew that I wanted to select a campaign related to suicide influences. “Seize the Awkward” was a great fit because it marries my love of researching research methods with my passion for suicide prevention.

Design Process

First, I spent time researching the campaign. I watched videos, read press releases, dug into their brand standards, and reviewed campaign toolkits. I read articles about their research process and analysis of the campaign’s performance.

I chose to design my case study in Canva, since I use it regularly for work and personal projects. I started with a basic template and heavily modified it to match the Seize the Awkward campaign branding. One of the reasons this campaign was so successful was its fun and bold graphics and color palette. An example is pictured below.

My case study includes the following elements:

  • Background of the campaign and the issue it addressed
  • Description of the target audience
  • Description of the campaign’s formative research
  • Overview of the campaign message and assets
  • Project evaluation
  • Assessment of theoretical application
Work cited

References

  • 2020 ARF David Ogilvy Awards. Advertising Research Foundation. (n.d.). https://thearf-org-unified-admin.s3.amazonaws.com/ARF Ogilvy Award Case Studies/2020 ARF David Ogilvy Award CS/Seize-the-Awkward.pdf
  • Ad Council: Seize the awkward. Droga5. (n.d.). https://droga5.com/work/ad-council-seize-the-awkward-ii-2/
  • Case study: Social impact marketing for mental health advocacy. Llama Lead Gen. (n.d.). https://www.llamaleadgen.com/case-studies/social-impact-marketing
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 16). Health disparities in suicide. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/disparities
  • Collaboration with the Jed Foundation to develop Digital Campaign Guidelines. Hopelab. (2023, April 27). https://test.hopelab.org/case-study/jed
  • Durkheim, Émile. (1951). Suicide: a study in sociology (J. A. Spaulding & G. Simpson, Trans.). Free Press.
  • New Ad Council campaign empowers young adults to “seize the awkward” and start the conversation with friends at risk. (2018, June 27). PR Newswire. Retrieved September 21, 2024, from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-ad-council-campaign-empowers-young-adults-to-seize-the-awkward-and-start-the-conversation-with-friends-at-risk-300583759.html.
  • Partner toolkit. Seize the Awkward. (n.d.). https://seizetheawkward.org/partner-toolkit
  • Seize the awkward. dentsu International. (May 2021). https://www.dentsu.com/us/en/our-work/seize-the-awkward
  • “Seize the Awkward” Partners with Guild Wars 2 Game. The Drum. (2020, September 11). https://www.thedrum.com/profile/ad-council/article/seize-the-awkward-partners-with-guild-wars-2-game-1
  • Seize the Awkward Reminds Young People Everywhere That You Don’t Need to Be There, to Be There. (2020, May 20). Ad Council. Retrieved September 21, 2024, from https://www.adcouncil.org/learn-with-us/press-releases/seize-the-awkward-reminds-young-people-everywhere-that-you-dont-need-to-be-there-to-be-there.
  • Suicide prevention month. NAMI. (2024, September 19). https://www.nami.org/get-involved/awareness-events/suicide-prevention-month/

Image and Video Credits

  • Ad Council Creative Studio. (n.d.-a). Friends Support Friends banner ad. Ad Council. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, The Jed Foundation. Retrieved September 21, 2024, from https://www.adcouncil.org/asset/friends-support-friends/204495667.
  • Ad Council Creative Studio. (n.d.-b). Seize the Awkward Logo. Ad Council. Retrieved September 20, 2024, from https://www.adcouncil.org/campaign/suicide-prevention.
  • Ad Council Creative Studio. (n.d.-c). Text Bubble social media banner. Ad Council. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, The Jed Foundation. Retrieved September 21, 2024, from https://www.adcouncil.org/asset/text-bubble/204416397.
  • Ad Council Creative Studio. (n.d.-d). Totally Worth It banner ad. Ad Council. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, The Jed Foundation. Retrieved September 21, 2024, from https://www.adcouncil.org/asset/totally-worth-it/204495665.
  • Droga5. (n.d.). Mosaic Series banner ad. Ad Council. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, The Jed Foundation. Retrieved September 21, 2024, from https://www.adcouncil.org/asset/sta-reachingout-lucilaperini-print-version2/203013116.
  • NCSoft. (n.d.-a). Screenshot of Guild Wars 2 Seize the Awkward video. Guild Wars 2. Retrieved September 20, 2024, from https://www.guildwars2.com/en/seizetheawkward.