PrEP Your Health
Office
United States
Services
Research & Insights
Integrated Campaign Development
Digital & Social Media Activation
Date
2023–2024
PrEP is one of the most effective tools available to prevent HIV. But awareness, and more importantly, understanding, doesn’t move at the same pace as science.
In Missouri, that gap was shaped by more than just lack of information. Misconceptions, stigma around HIV, and structural barriers to healthcare access made it harder for many people to even consider PrEP as an option. This was especially true among communities that had historically been left out of public health conversations: Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx populations, women, and people living in rural areas. At the same time, HIV testing had declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, reinforcing the urgency to rebuild awareness around prevention. The challenge was to make PrEP feel relevant, understandable, and accessible in real life.
How do you introduce a preventive solution to people who haven’t been part of the conversation, and make it stick?
Solution
Before defining a message, the priority was to learn how PrEP was being perceived, discussed, and, in many cases, overlooked. We designed a multi-phase research approach across Missouri, combining focus groups, a statewide survey, and in-depth interviews with healthcare providers. The objective was to go beyond measuring awareness to surface the beliefs, doubts, and structural realities shaping how different communities engage with HIV prevention.
The findings pointed to a fragmented landscape. Awareness existed, but it was inconsistent. Understanding was often partial or distorted. For many, barriers extended beyond information. Stigma, cultural context, access to care, and everyday constraints all influenced whether PrEP was even considered. Healthcare providers revealed a parallel challenge. While they remain one of the most trusted sources of information, conversations around sexual health and HIV prevention are not always straightforward. That tension directly affects how information is introduced, received, and acted upon.
With that context in place, the campaign was built from the ground up.
We developed three creative routes and validated them through a second round of qualitative and quantitative testing with priority audiences across the state, including Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx communities, women, and residents in rural areas. The responses were nuanced and not always aligned. That tension became a critical filter, helping refine the work into something more precise, more credible, and more likely to resonate. The final platform reframed PrEP as part of everyday preventive health, closer, clearer, and easier to integrate into real decision-making.
From there, the campaign was deployed across television, radio, and digital channels, including YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok. Media planning was designed to ensure consistent reach across both urban and rural environments, with specific attention to areas with higher social vulnerability.
To extend the impact beyond paid media, we developed a comprehensive campaign toolkit for the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services. This enabled partners across the state to activate the campaign locally, maintaining consistency while adapting to their communities. Throughout the process, the work remained aligned with established public health frameworks, incorporating guidance from the CDC, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and relevant scientific literature.
RESULTS
