• by Larissa Faw , May 9, 2016

Dignity Health and its agency Eleven are celebrating National Stroke Awareness Month in May by raising awareness about the importance of understanding the signs of stroke. This is the first time the health organization has supported this cause with a national campaign.

The spot is based on insights that people with risk factors are least likely to pay attention to strokes due to a mentality that it usually happens to someone else. People who have strokes often aren’t aware when it's happening to them and are often unable to seek help themselves. Knowing that people having a stroke are often confused or helpless, the spot also aims to appeal to those around them.

The spot runs in Southern California and the California Central Coast and targets those over age 30. In addition to TV, the effort includes out-of-home, print, display and radio.

One key challenge in developing this campaign was balancing education with entertainment. "Often stroke awareness messaging can be heavy and alarmist, highlighting signs of stroke and the potentially scary outcomes after," they say. "In order to balance a difficult subject, the team went with a lighter creative style to engage an audience that may not want to necessarily listen and to contrast the scariness of the subject," says the agency.