PrEP Islatravir
At McCann Health New York, my partner and I were asked to develop creative communication tactics designed to retain adolescent girls and young women in the PrEP trial for the full three years.
Young women in Sub-Saharan Africa face the highest risk of HIV in the world. The University of Washington is studying a monthly HIV prevention pill called, PrEP Islatravir, where they recruited women from the ages of 16 to 25 in eSwatini, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is critical to stay in the trial for the full 3 years.
Considerations for the briefing:
Privacy is key — ideas should not rely on women being known by other participants or externally.
It is okay to engage communities and get people talking about and normalizing PrEP
Ideas should also not rely on robust digital community management
Channels could include social media (TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram), community events, IPC via community health workers or at clinics.
My role: Copywriter
Conveniently PrEP Yourself
Women within the three-year trial may not want others to know they are on PrEP due to cultural stigma against sexual health methods.
In order to help them stay hidden, we created a discreet packaging campaign.
We created a brand called, Prepstick that allows women to discreetly take PrEP. Prepstick is a lipstick brand that will sell in 4 lip colors. The lipstick doubles as a secret container for the pills, and in addition, the lipstick colors will have empowering color names the women in the trial can relate to. These colors are Powerful Pink, Resilient Rose, Bold Babe, and Brilliant and Bare.
Lipstick Mockups
PrEP Yourself
Hair salons are popular in the Sub-Saharan African region. Salons are where women open up and talk about their lives to their hairstylists & make friends with other customers. To normalize women taking their monthly PrEP, they will associate it with their monthly self-care routine.
PrEP will partner with local salons where the women participating in the trial will receive free monthly visits for three years as an incentive to adhere to the trial.
This will enable women to prioritize PrEP by associating it with their monthly care routine, and start to view PrEP as a form of self-care.
Salon Poster Mockups
Mood Board