Content Champions: National Council Against Drug Abuse

The National Council Against Drug Abuse is an advisory council to the minister and the Ministry of Home Affairs. It serves as a conduit between the government and the public by championing advocacy on policies and measures against drug abuse. It also handles community engagements and outreach to the public to promote Singapore’s zero drug tolerance stance with the support of community partners.

Content Champions is a segment during MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Content360 conference in Singapore in which we highlight brands who have made significant impact in the content marketing space through their campaigns. This campaign was first shortlisted for Marketing Excellence Awards 2023 and was further evaluated by the editorial team at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE to make the shortlist. 

Campaign: What’s Your Fix?: Finding Juliana
Brand: National Council Against Drug Abuse 

Challenge

The core strategic thought was to position drug abuse as a top-of-mind social concern for Singaporeans, particularly youths, by pivoting from the usual "Say no to drugs" approach by creating a multi-channel approach that would engage youths in a meaningful way.

The main creative challenge was to deliver anti-drug content that resonated with youths without resorting to the usual fear-based messaging approach. 

Strategy

By ensuring that the content was authentic and relatable, while being engaging and immersive, "Finding Juliana" wanted to stand out by taking a more nuanced approach, focusing on the lived realities of drug abuse and the importance of community support.

The creative rationale behind the campaign was to highlight the social issues that at-risk youths face, which prompts them to indulge in substance/drug abuse.

This approach effectively conveyed to low-risk youths their importance in providing support and encouragement to their peers who face this predicament. Furthermore, the campaign sought to spark nuanced conversations on drug abuse between both sides and activate and sustain the communications of the anti-drug narrative, reaching beyond the target audience and into the wider community.

Execution

The "What's Your Fix?" campaign was a two-year partnership with the National Council Against Drug Abuse (NCADA) aimed at raising awareness about drug abuse among Singaporean youth aged 15 to 34.  It consists of three sub-campaigns, the first of which, "Finding Juliana", launched from September to November 2022 as a 21-episode TikTok series followed by a 24-minute short film.

The objectives were to spark nuanced conversations on drug abuse among youth and how apathy towards drug abuse may lead to a permissive culture. The story of "Finding Juliana" was crafted to resonate with the target audience through genre preference, relevance, authenticity, and a relatable point of view. The story is inspired by anecdotes and true stories shared by the post-risk community, giving it an authentic touch.

It also tapped into real-world issues that youth are invested in such as cyberbullying and mental wellness. The creative idea behind the campaign was to push the envelope of what social media content can be by featuring an immersive storyline and authentic characters.

The content involved multiple touchpoints and platforms, and the full episodes were published on TikTok and a microsite with a social media campaign carried out on Facebook and Instagram. The impact was further driven by Viddsee serving as an additional amplification platform. Aside from digital content, it placed emphasis on PR and held a media launch event for premiere screening as well as a TikTok Live for a more intimate interaction.

Check out the other winners here.