Vital Media Studio
Campaigns that shift behaviors, build support and move policies
Information doesn’t change minds or policies on its own. Within Vital’s Detect–Direct–Deploy approach to strategic communication, Media Studio is where insight and strategy become messages that reach the public. Using our ASPIRE framework, we turn public health evidence into campaigns that shift behavior, build public support and move policy — shaping the environments that drive healthier choices, millions of people at a time.
We’ve developed more than 750 campaigns in 140+ countries, working across health issues and budget sizes, from national tobacco control drives to hyperlocal harm reduction outreach.
Vital Strategies’ partnerships with governments on communication capacity have helped unlock more than $50 million a year in government-funded media dedicated to curbing tobacco use.
Supporting Ministries of Health is essential to keeping the public informed — through health promotion units, crisis communications and providing funding for media campaigns.
Our Expertise
Strategic communication for public health requires a distinctive approach. It means working on stigmatized or sensitive issues, in settings with limited media infrastructure, often in spaces with opposition from vested interests. That’s the terrain Vital Strategies has worked in for more than sixteen years — and where our approach is built to perform.
Our approach is complimented by deep public health implementation and social science research expertise. Across dozens of health issue areas, we account for how environments, policies, and social norms shape the world we live in and drive millions of people towards healthier or more harmful behaviors.
Integrated marketing and public relations
The communication landscape is more complex than ever, and we’re at the forefront of bringing new methods together with tried-and-true approaches. Our F*Nicotine campaign pairs targeted social ads, an army of creators and influencers with traditional earned media, reaching 17 million people across four countries at a cost 87% below industry benchmarks.
Translating data into public demand
We turn evidence into messages that shift public opinion on contested policy, giving policymakers the political cover to act. Half a million people signed on to challenge Big Soda’s grip on sports sponsorship: KickBigSodaOut.org
Working with governments
We partner with Ministries of Health and other health leaders to build the public awareness and demand they need to accelerate their health agendas and strengthen their communications capacity. For instance, the Vial-supported “México Sin Humo” campaign helped drive new national legislation to protect the public against secondhand smoke: MexicoSinHumo.mx
Partnering with communities
We co-create campaigns with the people and communties most affected, using trusted local messengers instead of top-down messaging. The “You Have the Power to Save Lives” worked through Black faith and community leaders to address stubbornly high overdose rates in Black communities, building naloxone awareness and increasing the likelihood that people will carry Nalxone 5x for millions of people: YouCanSaveLives.org
Journalist training and media advocacy
New media coverage is critical to public understanding of health issues. We have relationships with scores of journalists across dozens of important media markets, generate thousands of articles a year, and also provide issue-specific trainings and briefings so that news media understand the data and impact of often-invisible public health issues. Vital-supported campaigns generated 800 news stories during Brazil’s health tax reform, helping break a legislative deadlock that threatened progress.
Communication Shapes Our World
Awareness isn’t enough. Change takes urgency — campaigns that capture public attention and shift the culture behind a potential policy.
ASPIRE: A model for effective public health communication
ASPIRE is our codified framework for identifying the right problem, audience and message before a single ad ever runs. It’s the discipline that turns a good idea into a campaign that actually moves people and policies. It forms the basis of our practice and training on how to implement excellent public health communications.
Media.VitalStrategies.org
Visit our dedicated site to learn more in-depth about how our campaigns in tobacco control, overdose prevention, food policy and road safety have shaped policies and impacted millions of lives.
Discover how the research expertise behind our Behavioral Insights Lab compliments our campaign work, ensuring that every dollar spent on engaging the public has maximum impact.
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