Innis Maggiore Earns Summit Creative Award for Canton City Public Health Syphilis Awareness Effort
Canton City Public Health officials (middle l. to r.) Diane Thompson and Pamela Johnson-Gibbs display the award alongside Innis Maggiore’s Tony Bell, Lee-Ann DeMeo, and Scott Edwards (l. to r.).
CANTON, Ohio (Oct. 29, 2024) — Innis Maggiore, the nation’s leading positioning ad agency, today announced the “Syphilis Testing Awareness” out-of-home campaign, developed with the Canton City Public Health Department, won a 2024 Summit Creative Award. The health department and healthcare ad agency Innis Maggiore partnered to bring attention to the growing need to test for this potentially severe sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Canton City Public Health acted after noticing an increase in the number of syphilis cases among pregnant women and individuals with multiple sex partners. The campaign focused on out-of-home tactics, including billboards, bus signage, and programmatic digital components, to target affected audiences across an eight-county region. The health department partnered with its healthcare ad agency to maximize awareness among the different demographics and to encourage an increase in testing.
Innis Maggiore led the development of the campaign’s creative assets, which featured four approaches that would resonate with each demographic on an individual level. The messaging centered on the relationships between the viewer and loved ones using the tagline, “Give them everything. Except syphilis.”
“We did see increased traffic to our website,” said Diane Thompson, director of nursing at Canton City Public Health. “We heard people talking about the increase in syphilis in the community, and I believe we saw increased testing because of the campaign.”
“This campaign presented a special opportunity to make a life-changing difference in the lives of the most vulnerable in our communities,” said Tony Bell, director of client services. “Beyond the noticeable uptick in testing, we are honored as a healthcare ad agency to accept this Summit Creative Award for a cause that addresses a critical public health and safety concern.”
The Summit Creative Awards recognize creative talents among small and medium-sized advertising agencies. For more than 30 years, the competition has celebrated industry excellence and ingenuity. Winners are selected by advertising experts using a thorough selection process across a multitude of categories, including digital, out-of-home, web, video, and others.
About Canton City Public Health Department
The Canton City Public Health Department is a dedicated leader in advancing population health in the Canton region. The public health department believes that by working together with the community to prevent the spread of disease, it can promote health and protect the public from harm. Organizational divisions include Air Pollution Control (APC), Environmental Health (EH), Laboratory, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Health Promotion and Planning (HPP), Vital Statistics (VS), and THRIVE — Infant Mortality.
About Innis Maggiore
Innis Maggiore Group is recognized as America’s leading positioning ad agency, building strong brand positions for companies around the world. The full-service integrated agency had 2023 capitalized billings of about $27 million. Some of its key clients include Advanced Power, Aultman Health System, AultCare Health Plans, Babcock & Wilcox, Baird Brothers Fine Hardwoods, BellStores, The Center for Health Affairs, Encino Energy, ForeverLawn, Goodwill Industries of Eastern North Carolina (GIENC®), GOJO Industries (Purell), Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment, Harris Battery, KFC/Kendall House, Lewis Services, MID’S True Sicilian Pasta Sauce, Midwest Industrial Supply, Robertson Heating Supply Company, Roetzel & Andress, SmithFoods, Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA), and Stricklands.