Civilian Brings Home GOLD and SILVER at the 2025 SMANA Awards
For the second year in a row, Civilian Agency has won big with SMANA, the Social Marketing Association of North America! They honored us with four 2025 North American Social Marketing Awards — three gold and one silver — for our work on four powerful, diverse, far-reaching public health campaigns.
Check out our three golds:
Social Media Marketing in a social marketing program
🥇 Never a Bother, the youth suicide prevention campaign we created for California Department of Public Health’s Office of Suicide Prevention.
Speaking to Gen Z ages 15 to 25, our bold Never a Bother campaign lets young people know that their feelings are real and they’re never a burden. Co-created with youth and featuring Megan Thee Stallion, this suicide prevention campaign shows audiences how and where to find help. Through concrete resources and conversation starters, it also empowers friends and caregivers to make themselves available to youth who are struggling or experiencing a crisis.
Overall Social Marketing
🥇 Live Beyond, the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and toxic stress awareness campaign we created for the Office of the California Surgeon General.
Working to break the stigma around ACEs and toxic stress while providing ways to heal, Live Beyond was also co-created by the young people it serves. This campaign simplifies the complex topics of ACEs and toxic stress — including their impacts into adulthood — while providing a platform for people to tell their stories. Live Beyond also shares stress busters, book recs, and other resources to support anyone on a healing journey.
Campaign Branding in a social marketing program
🥇 Our rebrand of CDPH (California Department of Public Health), which encompasses everything from their logo, brand guide, and brand identity to their strategic communications guidelines, sizzle reel, internal stationery, and presentation templates.
Our refreshed identity for CDPH modernizes its presence while embodying the department’s dedication to a healthier future for all Californians. The vibrant color palette is inspired by California’s natural beauty, combining warm tones and calming hues to convey vitality, optimism, and trust. The new brand is flexible and impactful across a wide range of platforms and materials, from digital applications to community outreach initiatives.
Check out our silver:
Collateral Materials in a social marketing program
🥈Campaign toolkits speaking to priority populations about ACEs and toxic stress, for CalMHSA (California Mental Health Services Authority).
We created customized toolkits for specific groups served by CalMHSA: AAPI, Black/African American, and Latiné/Hispanic. These toolkits explained ACEs and toxic stress in ways that were approachable, relatable, and non-judgmental, while providing resources for support and healing. Language and designs took inspiration from the cultures of our priority populations, guided by focus groups.
SMANA’s awards are the only competition dedicated solely to social and behavior change marketing. Check out all of this year’s winners and our SMANA wins from last year! And, ICYMI, read about our Hermes Creative Awards and Shorty Impact Awards wins.
We’re grateful to our clients for their trust in us and their thoughtful collaboration. Our shared missions have helped millions across California (and beyond) find support within their communities, families, and friend groups, become sources of support themselves, discover deep wells of personal resilience, and take care of their mental and physical health.