A Strategic Platform to Think Differently About Firearms
In Brief
The Ask:
From the Brief - We must wake up the nation to the NRA’s Big Lie. Create a strategic platform that makes people see their gun safety world and future differently.
Challenge:
Chip away the cultural mindset of “good guy with a gun.”
Solution:
Repackage the conversation around gun violence.
My Roles
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Presented to Susan Lavington - CMO of Brady
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Developed clear and consistent messaging that effectively communicated the brand's positioning and values as it relates to gun violence.
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Conducted research and analysis to understand pressing social issues surrounding gun violence, and identified areas where the organization can make a meaningful impact.
Background
From Brady’s Website:
Brady addresses gun violence from all angles. We emphasize education, litigation and legislation to ensure that every community is safe from mass shootings, gun homicide, domestic violence, suicide, unintentional shootings, and police violence that plagues so many communities.
Brady wants to unite people of all races and ethnicities from coast to coast, progressive and conservative, young and old, fed up and fired up to work with us and end what is taking so many lives. It’s in our hands.
People were marketed to by the NRA to believe guns make you safer; however, guns don’t make people safer as defensive gun use only accounts for .000001% of use cases while the other 99.9% of use cases are done aggressively.
It’s Not Really a “Good Guy with a Gun”:
Between 2020 and 2022, 60 million guns were sold. That’s 2x the level of that 20 years ago.
More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2021 than any other year.
Defensive gun use only accounts for .000001% of use cases.
“Good Guys” with a gun don’t really stop “Bad Guys” with a gun.
Our Execution:
Repackage the conversation around gun violence.
Strategy: Brady wants you to think twice about purchasing a firearm
Campaign: ”Safety Not Guaranteed”
Safety Not Guaranteed
Truth: The NRA has used marketing tactics to sell a dangerous weapon
Insight: We will purchase something if it’s perceived to provide safety (if it’s packaged nicely).
Idea: “Safety Not Guaranteed”
Safety Not Guaranteed is a platform to repackage the conversation around guns. We aim to create buzz around a comparison with a car with no safety and asking why purchase a car with no safety features and compare that to purchasing a weapon with no safety features.
97% of Americans agree they want universal background checks, but that is not in common discourse.
“Safety Not Guaranteed”
