March of Dimes
Low Dose, Big Benefits campaign

Advertising   |   Branding

Helping keep babies and moms healthy

One in 25 mothers-to-be experience preeclampsia, a condition putting babies’ and mothers’ health at risk. The simple step of asking a healthcare professional about taking low dose aspirin (LDA)—sometimes called baby aspirin—early in pregnancy can make all the difference. And yet, this simple treatment is not known by many families—and many healthcare providers are not regularly screening for preeclampsia or prescribing LDA as a treatment. The March of Dimes wants to change that. As part of their ongoing It Starts With Mom campaign, they seek to educate these two audiences about preeclampsia screening, and the benefits LDA could provide.

CHALLENGE
Create the name, branding, and messaging architecture for a campaign to educate different audiences about using low dose aspirin (LDA) to reduce the risk of preeclampsia and preterm birth.

INSIGHTS
We conducted in-depth interviews to determine how to engage our two primary audiences: parents-to-be and healthcare professionals. In doing so, we unveiled a third audience: communities, which included extended families and local organizations, who were influential in affecting parents’ views and actions. This research also solidified that leading with a message around low dose aspirin would be easier for parents-to-be to remember than leading about preeclampsia.

APPROACH
We developed a three-pronged messaging architecture that took into account each audience’s differing priorities and explored a wide selection of aspirin-centric naming options.

NAMING AND GRAPHIC IDENTITY
From our initial exploration, the very best of these were consumer-tested by our research partner, Matt George, before a final name was chosen: Low Dose, Big Benefits. This name succeeded in acting as a friendly, memorable hook that drew in audiences and led straight into our key messaging.

With a campaign name in hand, our design team did an extensive graphic exploration of different Low Dose, Big Benefits logos, delving into different typography, layouts, and iconography. Paramount to the exploration was that the logo needed to quickly add important context to the campaign name while being flexible enough to work across a wide range of tactics—and locked up with a variety of other logos. The final logo utilized typography that complemented the existing March of Dimes and It Starts with Mom logos, incorporating heart and pregnancy icons that added character while reinforcing the core campaign messaging.

MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE
We created an overall campaign manifesto, galvanizing March of Dimes staff, those contributing to the campaign, and potential partners. A messaging architecture was developed to help identify and prioritize key messages for our three audiences: healthcare professionals, parents-to-be, and communities. Example headlines and support copy were written for each, providing guideposts for additional writers who would help get the word out.

March of Dimes Social Media Ads on iphones

The campaign launched across owned and paid media, articles in publications such as The New York Times, and more. You can learn more about the initiative in the March of Dimes press release.

So help fight preeclampsia, and spread the word: tell your pregnant friends and loved ones to ask their healthcare professionals if they should be taking low dose aspirin.

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