ERICA NARDELLO

Client: Rothman Institute
Campaign: Rothman Sports Concussion Institute
Agency: LevLane
Role: Social Media Supervisor
Live: October 2014

The rate of concussions in youth, collegiate, and professional sports has increased dramatically – 16% in the last 15 years – but, despite the greater prevalence, there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of the condition. LevLane took the lead, rapidly escalating the issue and positioning the newly-launched Rothman Sports Concussion Institute as the authority to help provide better understanding and more knowledge about concussion management.

Instead of offering dense, jargon-packed third-party concussion content, we recommended the creation of proprietary content – specifically a simple guide for parents, coaches, educators, and athletes packed with approachable, shareable information, all under the common rallying cry "Don't play with it." Sharing and distribution of the Rothman Concussion Guide for Parents on Facebook and Twitter helped to support our goal of increasing conversation about sports concussion education.

After just three months, it was clear that our efforts were successful. Our social campaign inspired more than 1,000 shares and retweets of the Rothman Concussion Guide for Parents, all from people on Facebook and Twitter who used the guide as a conversation-starter with their own communities of parents, coaches, and athletes. They told personal stories of the effects of concussions and implored their friends to take the condition seriously. This tremendous sharing helped to raise awareness of the causes, symptoms, and effects of concussions, while also serving to establish the Rothman Sports Concussion Institute as the trusted partner for sports concussion treatment, from initial impact through the recovery process.