In 2021, guns became the leading cause of death for kids, outstripping car accidents for the first time in US history.

Previous gun violence work has been shocking, frightening, even devastating, and yet little has changed. We’ve felt moved or enraged by that work, but most are left with no idea what they might do to address the issue.

We started with a radical question: is there something simple, practical, empowering, that ordinary people could do to help? And that was the seed of our “Doesn’t kill to ask” movement, which has been gathering steam ever since.

Northwell is the largest healthcare system in NYS. The marketing landscape is littered with #1 claims and images of doctors in empathic consultations with hopeful patients. What’s more, some of our competitors have 200+ years of brand equity. How should we break through this clutter?

We saw an opportunity to lead with our purpose: to activate our Raise Health brand platform in a way that could set us apart as a leader in the region. Northwell hasn’t been shy about calling out societal ills that drive many of our healthcare issues, and a key focus has been gun violence. In 2021, guns became the leading cause of death for kids, outstripping car accidents for the first time in US history: we had to act.

Objectives:

- Differentiate the brand from our competitors

- Establish our purpose-driven leadership in dangerous times

- Persuade New Yorkers to help in reducing gun violence

We saw the power of changing the conversation from gun ownership (immediately polarizing) to gun access: doesn’t matter who owns it – just who has access. We knew from our primary research that virtually all parents would want to know if there was an unlocked gun where their kid was visiting, but few had ever asked the question.

To break the taboo around guns, we’d have to motivate people to change the “drop-off” conversation, one parent at a time. Our campaign required an empowering approach to break through with parents, urging them to action without frightening them off. So we chose a surprising analogy to capture their attention: a pet tiger!

Phase 1: Clinical foundations

The core of our medical approach is "universal screening," proven successful in stigmatized areas like substance abuse. It means using the same questions to assess risk for everyone who walks in, whatever the reason for their visit. For gun violence prevention, we screen for access to an unlocked gun in the home. If “yes,” we provide free gun-locks and social support.

Phase 2: Original research to understand:

1) How many US parents may already ask other parents about access to unlocked guns;

2) How many would want to know the answer; and

3) If they’d mind being asked by another parent

We found:

1) Less than a third of US parents have asked this question;

2) 90% would want to know if there’s an unlocked gun where their kid was about to visit

3) 97% would be fine answering this question, if another parent asked

From a messaging standpoint, we took an empowering approach vs. shocking or saddening people. We appealed to parents directly, arming them with a simple question that could save a life. TV delivered surprise and attention; other channels led with the shocking stat that guns are now the leading cause of death for kids – a powerful motivator. We shared practical "ways in" for starting this awkward conversation, on our website.

And we didn’t stop there: we knew our movement could empower people nationwide with our simple, practical intervention, so we partnered with 175 other health systems in 48 states to spread the movement – systems that, it’s worth noting, in some other context might be considered competitors. But with this commitment for positive change, collaboration was the key. We quickly assembled a toolkit of creative assets that partner systems could adapt in a turnkey way for use in their own

We launched September 2022 and are thrilled with early results. As per our objectives:

Differentiate the brand from formidable competitors

The campaign broke Northwell’s norms across:

– Uniqueness

– Differentiation

– Memorability

– “Will get people talking”

Impressive lifts in brand consideration (while our competitive set was flat):

-- Exposed to TV alone: +8%

-- Exposed to the full campaign: +25%

-- “Likelihood to recommend:” +26%

Establish our purpose-driven leadership in dangerous times:

Achieved double-digit gains for Northwell’s brand leadership:

-- “NW is a leader is reframing gun violence as a healthcare issue:” +29%

-- “NW provides tools and resources to improve gun safety in my community:” +30%

-- “NW motivates me to take action to prevent and reduce gun violence in my community:” +26%

Persuade New Yorkers to join us in reducing gun violence

We started a movement for positive change:

Alas, the US cultural context for gun violence is full of polarization, paralysis, and escalation. The fact that guns are now the leading cause of death for kids for the first time in US history – more than car accidents, more than cancer – is mind boggling. And yet our politics and our ability to address this daily tragedy with policy are almost entirely frozen.

Against this backdrop, Northwell needed to motivate consumers, mitigate reputational risks, and reassure leadership that this could be accomplished with grace and effectiveness.We found a way to empower ordinary people – gun-owners and non-owners alike – to take a simple step to improve their own safety and that of their families. In the words of Northwell’s CEO, Michael Dowling, “The issue of guns is controversial, but the damage to kids and families - and doing something to prevent it - should never be controversial.”