If someone in California is the victim of a violent crime, they may be eligible for reimbursement of related expenses, including therapy, medical treatment, and income loss, through the California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB). CalVCB partnered with us to increase awareness of and participation in its victim compensation program—especially in underserved, hard-to-reach communities.
CalVCB creative
People in underserved communities with higher crime rates were among the least likely to know this benefit was available.
Our preliminary survey revealed low awareness of CalVCB and confusion about its services, which include paying a victim’s bills in the aftermath of a violent crime. We needed to build a communications plan that achieved four goals:
Billboard - Spanish
We developed a detailed strategic communications plan aimed at maximum impact on a limited budget. We addressed our campaign to two core audience groups, prioritizing areas with high crime rates and low CalVCB participation:
Then we pinpointed 15 highly populated California counties, with a particular focus on Los Angeles, San Diego, and Kern counties.
Prioritizing economically disadvantaged communities, we relied on crime rates, census data, and media consumption habits to devise a cost-effective media plan that would deliver our campaign to communities that need CalVCB most. The result was a full-funnel campaign across print, radio, display, and paid social channels, optimized by geography and audience needs. The campaign was designed to drive both awareness and action.
For Domestic Violence Awareness Month in 2024, we partnered with two California-based influencers: Alyssa Mancao, an LA-based psychotherapist, and Zack Collie, a disability advocate who is quadriplegic. Both drew on personal experience, with Alyssa reaching a predominantly female, 25–35-year-old audience, and Zack reaching people with disabilities and male audiences.
Languages:
English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Hindi, Punjabi, Hmong, and Vietnamese
The campaign ran from April 2024 through February 2026, with a sustained increase in web traffic.
Paid and organic media
280+ million
Total clicks
1.5+ million
18–34-year-olds
41%
Black audiences
40%
From social media
64%
(Website visits, ad clicks, web searches)
72%
Our post-campaign survey showed overall awareness of CalVCB rose from 25% to 31%. Gains were strongest among groups with previously low awareness. Recall was highest for Spanish-language ads, at 49%.
Civilian led the charge for our department’s most significant marketing effort to date. We appreciated their use of data, their depth of analysis, and the rationale they used to develop our strategic approach. We also loved their creative work and the way they were able to take a nuanced and challenging topic and find ways to weave in new ideas.
English Radio Spot
