06820

The situation: A Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services study exposed Darien's high rate of underage drinking, enabled by permissive parents. A grant was awarded to address this issue.

The insight: When faced with uncomfortable realities, it’s easier to believe the consequences happen to "someone else, somewhere else." As such, the problem remains abstract and easy to ignore.  

The strategy: Bring the problem home to make the problem real.

The execution: We hijacked Darien's area code "06820"—  a symbol of local pride seen on keychains, t-shirts, and bumper stickers— and used it as campaign anchor, striking deep at residents sense of identity. Photoshoots captured raw, gritty images at real locations around town. The stark imagery was paired with hard data about underage drinking. The campaign deployed through direct mail postcards, geo-targeted social ads, and posters in local businesses, all driving to a resource-rich website with comprehensive statistics and support information. We tailored separate messages to parents and teens.