SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 02, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Independent advertising agency, Duncan/Channon cleaned up at the 2015 Healthcare Marketing IMPACT Awards organized by Modern Healthcare and Advertising Age.  In addition to a silver award in the video category for its work for John Muir Health, the agency’s integrated campaign for the California Tobacco Control Program took home gold awards in both the video and integrated categories for advocacy campaigns before earning the event’s top honor of Best in Show. The awards recognize the best in healthcare advertising, marketing, promotion and communication campaigns across all types of media platforms.

Launched last summer, the multifaceted campaign was the first of its kind targeting the surging use of e-cigarettes, especially among young adults, and their potential threats to health.  Following strategic exploration, guided by the agency’s brand strategy department, the campaign included TV, digital, social, out-of-home and experiential advertising.

“We’re incredibly proud of the work created for this campaign,” said Anne Elisco-Lemme, executive creative director at Duncan/Channon.  “The apathy around e-cigs and vaping required a ton of education, but we knew that taking a heavy-handed, patronizing approach would never fly.  In order to move people through education and discussion to action, the campaign uses peer-to-peer language, raw imagery and a contemporary look to spark real conversations.”

“The success of this campaign is the result of not only the hard work of the D/C team, but of a really powerful collaboration with the amazing CTCP team,” said Jamie Katz, group account director at Duncan/Channon. “This work did more than get people to take notice of an important issue – it provoked authentic conversations, it shifted perceptions, shaped educated opinions and drove real action.  That action includes hundreds of thousands of visits to the StillBlowingSmoke.org website, thousands of social shares, tens of thousands of interactive bus shelter engagements, and, maybe most importantly, it sent the vaping community into attack mode.”

“We definitely saw an immediate impact from our combined efforts,” said Carrie Parent, group director of communications planning at Duncan/Channon. “Following the big splash, the communications strategy focused on inserting the campaign’s message into the broader conversation.  The key here was placing the media where people might be more apt to talk and often right next to where e-cigarettes are sold – in kiosks at the mall, or right at the counter at your local gas station. Finally, we saw real results from our efforts to leverage digital to fuel the fire by putting people one click away from the facts of this highly educational campaign and making it easy for them to share.” 

The Healthcare Marketing IMPACT Awards are designed to recognize healthcare’s best advertising, marketing, promotion and communication campaigns on and across all media platforms, and is open to organizations based in North America. The awards honor campaigns that advance provider, insurer, pharmaceutical, supplier and advocacy group efforts to deliver high quality, affordable and accessible healthcare; promote the health of individual patients, groups and communities; and help organizations thrive and grow in today’s rapidly changing healthcare environment.

From March 23 to July 7, more than 180 entries were submitted, representing seven types of marketing campaigns. Best in Show Award was chosen from the top award winners from each category and division for the entry that best demonstrated how impact and results can be obtained without sacrificing integrity in messaging.

About Duncan/Channon
Duncan/Channon (duncanchannon.com) is an integrated, independent, full-service advertising and design agency, ranked among the top 10 Bay Area agencies by the San Francisco Business Times. Duncan/Channon specializes in re-launching brands and has won first prize in the Rebrand 100 global competition, as well as media plan of the year from the 4A’s. Current clients include StubHub, Sephora, Kona Brewing, Red Hook, John Muir Health and the California Tobacco Control Program. Duncan/Channon was founded in 1990 and is housed in an historic building in downtown San Francisco.

CONTACT: Media contact:
Michelle Musburger
Duncan/Channon
415 306 9290
[email protected]