MWW Group – From Surviving to Thriving: African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC)
Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is the world’s second-leading infectious cause of blindness, infecting over 37 million of the poorest populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Since the 1996 inception of the African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), a community-based health network, the situation facing these communities has improved drastically.
The program, however, has long encountered barriers when communicating across the 19 different countries and when sharing global program success with donors, partners and allies. Without integrated communication channels, APOC had difficulty elevating success stories to supporters and partners. In 2010, APOC partnered with MWW Group to build a social media presence that would facilitate internal communications across the program and share successes with wide external audiences.
Through powerful PR vehicles such as videos, interactive presentations, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Maps and YouTube and impactful publications, MWW Group helped APOC empower community members to contribute vital information and share their success stories from remote locations across Africa.
Honorable Mentions:
DAWSON + MURRAY + TEAGUE Communications - Telling Amy’s Story: To raise awareness for a documentary film about domestic violence, DMT—with the Verizon Foundation—promoted airings of the film on PBS stations across the country and hosted screening events in major cities.
Excellus BlueCross BlueShield - Coalitions to Pass a State Law While Providing Overall EOL Decision Option: In 2010, a longtime effort to pass legislation to improve end-of-life decision options was revamped to include a new Web page and a public education campaign, culminating in the passage of a New York State law.
National Shooting Sports Foundation Inc. — Hunting Works for America: The NSSF’s grassroots program aimed at three states included digital PR/social media outreach, resulting in over 200 partner relationships in three months.