Empowering the LGBT Community to F*Ck W/Out Fear of HIV

Empowering the LGBT Community to F*ck W/out Fear of HIV

Silver Anvil

Marketing — Consumer Services — Health Care Services

Submitted By: Los Angeles LGBT Center with Weber Shandwick

Insights & Analysis To understand perceptions of PrEP and existing education campaigns, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and gay/bisexual men of color and transgender women, we employed a variety of primary and secondary research techniques, both quantitative and qualitative, including: • Real-time social listening across websites, social media channels and dating/hook-up apps, such as Grindr, to gain a deep understanding of how and where the audiences discuss sex, sexual health, PrEP and language they use in these interactions. Insights informed campaign tone, voice and tactics. • A review of existing research including “Addressing PrEP Disparities Among Young Gay and Bisexual Men in California” by the California HIV/AIDS Policy Research Center at UCLA/APLA Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports on PrEP — which helped identify key barriers to treatment and HIV/AIDS statistics among the target. • A target audience analysis from Simmons, a national database of public behavior and sentiment, to gain a better understanding of gay/bisexual men of color. The analysis found that transgender women were not sufficiently represented in the database, which drove us to explore further research tactics. • An on-the-ground intercept survey among young, gay/bisexual men of color and transgender women at gay bars throughout West Hollywood, a neighborhood with a high LGBTQ population. Results helped highlight the need for a campaign that spoke directly to our audience and demanded their attention where other PrEP campaigns had fallen short. • Formal and informal focus groups that accurately reflected the campaign target of those most at-risk in Los Angeles, to test campaign messaging. These young, gay/bisexual men of color and transgender women reaffirmed the campaign message and helped hone the tactics and executions.

Strategy and Planning This isn’t the generation that watched their community of brothers and sisters die of HIV/AIDS at a time when treatment wasn’t available. Those memories aren’t going to spur action to protect themselves from infection. Despite varying degrees of fear or even understanding of HIV, no one wants to be infected by it. Moreover, even though PrEP offers an opportunity to end the spread of AIDS, that message alone hasn’t been enough to drive uptake among the most at-risk populations, and other PrEP campaigns were not having a significant impact among those most at-risk. A new approach was needed to cut through and awaken and empower young gay/bisexual men of color and transgender women to take action. With the Center, we launched a bold, attention-grabbing campaign: “F*ck w/out Fear, PrEP Here.”

The campaign was designed to empower people to take control of their sexual health, while emphasizing that there are alternatives to living in fear of HIV. It aligns the PrEP approach with defeating HIV. It directed our audience to the Center, revealing that PrEP is available here — right here, in fact. It reminds us that the disease is the enemy, not each other. It’s also a throwback to the rallying, rebellious spirit on which the Center was founded, using authentic language that breaks through the clutter of other prevention messages and commands attention. The imagery and branding for the campaign was created to be daring and unapologetic focused on sparking a real, thoughtful conversation about PrEP amongst the LGBT community and those most at-risk for HIV.

There were two goals for the campaign: 1. Increase awareness of PrEP, a once-daily pill that can prevent HIV, particularly among gay/bisexual men of color and transgender women who are most at-risk of new HIV infections 2. Generate 500 new PrEP prescriptions from the LA LGBT Center within 3 months of campaign launch.

An underlying part of achieving the campaign goals was to address and dispel several myths that exist within the LGBT community among those who know about or have heard of PrEP, including: 1. PrEP is not effective at preventing HIV infection or there is confusion about how effective it is 2. PrEP comes with significant side effects 3. PrEP is unaffordable or insurance doesn’t cover the medicine 4. Many people don’t know where they can get a prescription for PrEP

Execution and Tactics The campaign kicked off with a “F*ck w/out Fear” billboard in the heart of West Hollywood and immediately sparked controversy and debate within the community. The launch also included a “Paint the

Copyright 2018, Public Relations Society of America, Inc. Town Blue” event where partnering bars turned their lights blue (the color of the PrEP pill) and hosted PrEP educators to capture contact information and encourage people to sign up for free PrEP consultations at the Center. Campaign advertising ran in multiple LGBT publications in both English and Spanish, as well as paid Google search, display ads and promoted social media posts.

Being a sex-positive campaign we knew it was important to reach our audiences where they’re talking about sex: gay dating apps. We ran geo-targeted ad campaigns on major gay dating apps (Grindr, Scruff, Hornet and Jack’d) using original photography featuring men and transgender women of color in intimate settings. We created a “Fearless F*cker” persona on Grindr to connect users with PrEP Navigators from the Center to answer questions in real-time. Those interested in starting PrEP were set up with a consultation at the Center.

We partnered with LGBT designer Andrew Christian to create a “Fearless F*cker” t-shirt, sold at the flagship store in West Hollywood and given away at events including a celebrity Oscar gifting suite. Proceeds were donated to cover transportation assistance to the Center for PrEP consultations for low- income patients.

To reach the House and Ball community, a niche group of gay/bisexual men and transgender women of color centered on dance and runway performance, we hosted the “Blue Ball” in partnership with Banjee Ball. Luis Camacho, former Madonna vogue dancer and legend in this community, served as a judge to increase attendance and awareness, and drew performers from across the county.

All campaign activity drove to PrEPHere.org, which contained information about PrEP, a PrEP consultation booking portal, and a “PrEP Score” risk assessment tool co-developed by the Center and UCLA researchers.

Evaluation and Results Within the first three months of the campaign, the Center reported PrEP prescriptions had tripled and “lines were out the door” at their pharmacy. The campaign far exceeded its goals, with more than 700 new prescriptions among the target audiences in the first three months, and countless others who may currently be considering PrEP as they see friends and partners protect themselves from HIV.

PrEPHere.org recorded more than 25,000 page views and 17,000 clicks through the “PrEP Score” tool. Digital ads received 10,914,270 impressions, accounting for more than 17,000 homepage visits and more than 175 consultations booked online.

The campaign received extensive media coverage locally, nationally and globally, including Associated Press, PerezHilton.com, The Guardian, LGBT publications, and major Spanish media outlets, including La Opinion, LA Telemundo and Univision, for a total of 195.5M media impressions. Coverage in these publications was especially important given these are the outlets that our audiences read regularly and trust for information about their community and the issues they face.

The strong reaction to the campaign message and controversy stirred by the billboard resulted in a segment on The Doctors TV show, elevating the campaign and PrEP discussion to a national level. The heated interview with the Center’s chief medical officer, Dr. Robert Bolan, provided an opportunity and platform to underscore the necessity for conversations about PrEP, which aren’t happening in mainstream America.

The campaign received widespread support from the LGBT community both locally and globally, resulting in op-ed pieces by Dr. Michael Gottlieb (who first identified AIDS as a new disease) and Peter Staley (a co-founder of the HIV activist group, ACT UP) praising the campaign and its message. Additionally, the campaign received support from PrEP advocates, including a prominent UK advocate, Greg Owens, who promoted the campaign on social media wearing the Fearless F*cker t-shirt. The campaign also garnered interest from the Winter Party Festival in Miami, FL, a major gay music festival, using our logo and messaging throughout venues.