Life Looks Good On You: A Social Media Case Study

The Life Looks Good On You campaign is a multi-piece project Uptown Studios was pleased to partner with the Sacramento County Department of Regional Parks on. The purpose of this campaign was to engage with and encourage young men, ages 15-25, to wear life vests when swimming and hanging out at the American River. Every summer, deaths that could be prevented occur. To prevent these drownings, river goers only need to wear life jackets, but the life jackets face stigmas of being uncool, and river goers are often confident in their abilities to swim in the river, despite warnings about unpredictable currents.

Life Looks Good On You Billboard graphic we made featuring members of the Sac Republic Soccer Team Holding Team Scarf Wearing Lifejackets

Our challenge: how to reach young adults and encourage them to wear a life jacket. A piece of our solution? An engaging social media campaign that includes fun prizes for participants sharing photos of themselves in life jackets to help discourage the stigma that life jackets are uncool.

Working closely with the Sacramento County Department of Regional Parks, we developed the hashtags #SacRivers and #LifeLooksGoodonYou to make it easier for social media followers to share photos. In partnership with CBS Radio and the Sacto Mofo Food Truck Festival, we gathered tickets to give away as contest prizes and messaging to get followers engaged. The outreach resulted in interest being picked up by the City of Sacramento who shared photos of the City Manager, John Shirey, the Assistant City Manager, Howard Chan, and Mayor Kevin Johnson in life jackets. This also sparked interest from local media.

The campaign used the shared photos, videos, and graphic designs developed by Uptown Studios to communicate the important message.

Overall, the campaign was successful in kicking off the summer season, and continued posts and promotion from the Sacramento County Department of Regional Parks and other partners continues to engage summer river visitors.

an image of the Life Looks Good On You Billboard graphic we made featuring members of the Sac State women's rowing team
an image of the Life Looks Good On You Billboard graphic we made featuring members of the Sac State women's rowing team