Awareness Branding
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Communicating for a Cleaner, Healthier Planet
Background
SMARxT Disposal is a public awareness campaign developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to raise American consumers' awareness about potential environmental impacts from improper disposal of medications. A major goal of the campaign is to educate consumers about alternative methods for medication disposal. This campaign is the result of a unique public-private partnership between the USFWS, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).
For many years the prevailing wisdom for safely disposing of expired or unused medication was to flush or pour them down the sink. One of the challenges of this campaign was that it required educating the public on the environmental impact and public health risks of that method while simultaneously providing a practical alternative. Since pharmacists have the most direct contact with consumers concerning medications, it was determined that the best way to reach the public was through the pharmacists themselves.
JDG's Solution
JDG Communications was tasked with developing a comprehensive outreach campaign consisting of materials distributed by local USFWS branches to pharmacies, and in turn, to the general public. The pharmacies are to serve as the key educational intervention points and are supported with a variety of materials that promote a more environmentally-friendly disposal approach of expired or unused medication.
JDG designed an integrated series of materials, with a cohesive look and feel, including promotional items such as hats, t-shirts, key chains, and bookmarks, that were given away to the general public. They also designed a series of public relations materials that reached beyond the pharmacies, including a public awareness ad, a press release pocket folder and letterhead, which were used as a distribution tool for all media press releases. Many of these materials contained specific recommendations for how to dispose of medications safely and directed consumers to the SMARxT Disposal website where they could find more detailed information. Finally, a brand standards guide was developed to ensure future campaign materials all follow the distinctive look and feel developed by JDG for this effort. An image library was also suggested to provide access to designers and non-designers alike to produce materials that would be consistent across the campaign.
Results
The SMARxT Disposal campaign is an ongoing effort, and materials continue to be distributed through the various channels and are also available from the campaign website. Among the outreach efforts incorporated thus far are the distribution of the bookmarks at an annual pharmacists conference and the giveaway of floating key chains at a public family fishing event held by USFWS.
The response and interest surrounding the SMARxT Disposal campaign has been overwhelmingly positive with proven benchmarks of success. In the January 2008 edition of Scientific American, USFWS and one of its campaign partners, APhA, received a "SciAm 50 Award," honoring the SMARxT Disposal program as one of its fifty "visionaries from the worlds of research, industry and politics whose recent accomplishments point toward a brighter technological future for everyone." Distribution of campaign materials are ongoing as part of a strategic effort to better educate the public on the vital importance of proper medication disposal in improving the health of families and the nation's waterways alike.
