988 – Oklahoma’s Mental Health Lifeline
Marketing, Branding, PR & Influencers
Challenge
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) needed to launch a statewide campaign within six months to announce the upcoming 988 mental health crisis number that would replace the national 11-digit suicide hotline. ODMHSAS required a strategy to inform and educate Oklahomans about the new number and its purpose in each of the state’s 77 counties. They needed an agency to manage the account and oversee the development of the branding, creative, video, social media, public relations and community outreach. Jones PR was hired as the Agency of Record for the ODMHSAS 988 Campaign in February 2022.
Industry
Social media impressions garnered over 16-week flight
social media engagements
Paid media impresssions
Our Strategic Solution:
ODMHSAS enlisted Jones PR to create an eye-catching and impactful integrated communications campaign. As the account management lead, Jones PR set out to build the strongest team; Jones PR managed the account, PR, community outreach, advertising buys and the overall budget. We hired Insight Creative Group (ICG) to develop creative, branding, social media and videography.
First, Jones PR researched to examine Oklahomans’ points of view on mental health and to test voice, tone and potential messaging for an outreach campaign around mental health resources available in Oklahoma. The agency developed a goal, objectives, strategies, critical audience and tactics to create a distinctive public service campaign that uses bright, eye-catching art in multiple forms to reach Oklahomans needing mental health services.
The primary goal was to inform Oklahomans of the ability to call or text 988 from any of the state’s 77 counties to access local mental health support and services through a blend of earned, paid, shared and owned efforts led by public relations strategies.
The campaign’s objectives within the first six months were to receive a minimum of 10,000 calls and texts to 988 post-launch, increase mobile dispatches by 50%, avoid legislative or department budget cuts planned in states FY24 for 988 and garner a minimum of 500,000 video plays of the PSA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Additionally, we needed to place at least 75 earned media stories between January 2022 and February 2023.
The primary audience was Oklahoma residents, parents, teachers, teens, employers and healthcare professionals. In contrast, the secondary audience was the Oklahoma State Legislature’s 149 members who developed and approved the state budget.
Jones PR recommended a campaign that would unfold throughout the following 13 months, ending year one’s efforts after airing a PSA video during the 2023 Super Bowl. The agency developed a brand and campaign guide, PR editorial calendar, influencer activation program, statewide advertising campaign, speakers bureau and events/sponsorship calendar. They created a one-stop website resource (988oklahoma.com) to gain information about 988, connect and contact 988 leadership and access resources to help spread the word about 988.
Jones PR produced and taped two PSA campaigns between March 2022 and January 2023 to demonstrate how and why to call or text 988 when needing mental health support or services. We prepped and pitched 12 news releases and set up 32 media interviews featuring ODMHSAS and the Oklahoma call center leaders. We developed 988-branded deliverables for social media, outdoor advertising, print advertising, marketing collateral, gas pumps, coffee shops, phone booths and over-the-top spots. Jones PR developed, placed and managed an eight-month advertising and influencer campaign leading to over 200 million impressions and 60 influencer partnerships. We also created a 51-second (long form) PSA across Oklahoma for digital, YouTube and over-the-top advertising.
Results:
The campaign was a success. Within the first six months, we surpassed our goal of 10,000 calls and texts to 988 by more than double, with 24,000 calls/texts. We exceeded the objective of increasing mobile dispatches by 50% in the first six months post-988 launch, with a 100% increase. The state legislature should have cut funding for the 988 lines, meeting our objective.
Jones PR continued our efforts through 2023, with 482 media hits, 14 influencer partnerships, 63,448 website users, 21,690,370 social media impressions, 275,861 social media engagements and 129,919,802 paid media impressions garnered in year two of the campaign.
