THE PROBLEM
Gun violence takes a steep toll on Colorado, claiming roughly 1,000 lives and wounding hundreds more each year, including dozens of children and teens, for whom firearms are now the second-leading cause of death in the state.
Against that backdrop, Colorado’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) launched Let’s Talk Guns Colorado to raise awareness of the concrete steps all Coloradans, gun owners and non-owners alike, can take to help reduce gun violence, from safe storage to understanding Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs).
Initially led by a previous firm, the campaign drew significant backlash almost immediately, especially given how polarizing the topic of guns is. Coloradans on all sides of the issue pushed back, and the campaign’s early messaging struggled to build trust with the very communities it needed to reach.
THE SOLUTION: THE IDEA MARKETING APPROACH
The Idea Marketing was brought on for its experience with controversial public health topics. The issue was not the message. It was the posture. Early content lectured Coloradans in a one-size-fits-all tone that assumed gun owners knew nothing about firearm safety, and that tone fueled the backlash.
Idea shifted the campaign to a two-way conversation built around four audiences: gun owners, met as knowledgeable partners; people living with gun owners, both parents and non-parents, given practical safety guidance; the community at-large, given a trustworthy, non-partisan entry point; and those who could file an ERPO, including friends, family, gun owners, and newly-authorized professionals.
That last group became its own sub-campaign. A 2024 law change made health care and mental health professionals eligible ERPO petitioners for the first time. Seven focus groups with health care professionals statewide found most did not know ERPOs existed, doubted their effectiveness, or feared liability. In response, an e-learning course was built, focusing on the ERPO process plus a toolkit for employers and professionals to share through their own networks.
Budget was another constraint: there were no additional funds for new video production. To maximize reach without compromising efficiency, we adapted the monthly organic social content directly for paid digital placements. This meant repurposing the same posts as promoted Snapchat videos, Pinterest pins, Reddit posts, boosted Facebook ads, digital banners, and mobile interstitials. This kept messaging consistent across every touchpoint while still giving audiences a steady stream of fresh, actionable content across both paid and organic channels.
Media placement was built to reach all Coloradans, but with particular care for priority populations who might otherwise tune the campaign out. We layered in targeted strategies like digital billboards near military bases, posters and banners in gun shops, and placements in hunting magazines and veteran publications, meeting gun owners, veterans, and rural residents in the spaces they already trust.
IMPACT AT-A-GLANCE
The reworked approach paid off: over 70 million impressions generated through hyper-targeted paid media, more than 340,000 clicks driven to campaign resources, and nearly 9 million video views delivered across the campaign. Importantly, the campaign also saw a real shift toward positive engagement with Let’s Talk Guns Colorado.
MORE GREAT IDEAS
