For the last few months, we have a steady hum of activity at our offices as we’ve prepared for the second year of the #Dynacare4Diabetes campaign. This campaign aims to screen at-risk 55,000 Manitobans for Type 2 diabetes before November 30. Dynacare is offering A1C (blood sugar) tests at no cost to the province and will also be donating $0.50 per test to Diabetes Canada Manitoba up to a maximum of $25,000.

Our client, Dynacare, is partnering with Diabetes Canada Manitoba to spread the word across the province for one main reason: diabetes is a massive problem in our province. Nearly 400,000 Manitobans have diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes and pre-diabetes. The campaign is underway as part of Diabetes Awareness Month.

One of the best ways to prevent diabetes from leading to further complications (such as blindness and amputations) is to take control of your health and learn how to manage your condition. You can’t do that if you don’t know if you have diabetes.

We helped develop this campaign in 2018 working with Dynacare to come up with a strategy to illustrate the company’s commitment to Manitoba as well as the value the health and wellness solutions company brings to the provincial health care system. It has a long history of investing in innovations to improve health outcomes.

Our role is to help organize, coordinate and promote the campaign. To do that, our strategy includes:

Public relations – media interviews and photo opportunities around the province

Public speaking – Dynacare executive Dr. Jenissa Naidoo will address the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce on November 6

Social media – look for mentions in Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Influencers – we worked with 14 community leaders who agreed to get tested and record video testimonials for the campaign

Paid digital – we’ll be boosting the reach of those testimonial videos through a paid digital campaign on Facebook and Twitter

Last year, we were thrilled when the inaugural campaign won multiple health care public relations awards including CPRS Manitoba Communicator of the Year and CPRS National Health Care Campaign of the Year.

Our main message this year: Are you at risk? Find out. Talk to your doctor. Get tested.