Are fear-based marketing campaigns the best approach?

I recently watched the Sandy Hook Promise PSA – a dark, gut-wrenching video depicting students using common school supplies as emergency survival tools during a mass shooting. Part of the group’s “Know the Signs” campaign, the video’s goal is to help stop gun violence before it happens.

Although the message is certainly clear, I couldn’t help but question the effectiveness of such a graphic campaign. Have we all become so desensitized to tragedy that it’s necessary to terrify people until they listen?

I take a deeper look at the success rate for fear-based marketing campaigns in this blog post.

– Erin Hogan, The Pittsburgh 100