Listos California collaborates with a broad network of community-based organizations, Tribal governments, and community emergency response teams statewide to strengthen resilience and foster a culture of disaster preparedness across California. Their mission is to ensure that everyone, regardless of age, ability, income, or language, receives culturally relevant education on how to prepare for wildfires, floods, earthquakes, droughts, heatwaves, and other emergencies. By delivering accessible, in-language information, Listos California empowers communities throughout California to effectively handle and recover from disasters.
Anchored at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) since 2019, Listos California has succeeded in reaching millions of Californians who otherwise wouldn’t have access to lifesaving emergency preparedness information. Providing tools to help vulnerable Californians not only survive, but also thrive post-disaster, is what makes Listos California so vital.
The Challenge:
Listos California is dedicated to the wellbeing of all California residents. The continued fight against climate change and extreme weather conditions are not mutually exclusive. With rising temperatures being one of its most pressing consequences, the state of California, known for its diverse climate and ecosystems, is particularly vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat. The detrimental impacts include heatwaves, water scarcity, and an increase in public health risks.
When these conditions have reached their limits, it can exacerbate health issues, particularly for vulnerable populations and communities such as the elderly, children, and those with pre-existing health conditions. This not only affects the comfort and health of residents but also places a strain on the state’s infrastructure and resources while heat-related illnesses and deaths are a growing concern.
XOMAD’s Plan:
To ensure all Californians, regardless of age, ability, income, or language, received culturally competent education to prepare for extreme heat disasters, Listos California engaged XOMAD to execute a digital door-to-door campaign that activated 58 California-based creators from 27 cities statewide to share urgent and timely information about staying safe during extreme heat weather.
The local, trusted messengers created authentic content corresponding to Listos California’s ”Summer of Safety” campaign, reaching audiences in seven languages (English, Spanish, Punjabi, Vietnamese, Somali, Canto, and Taiwanese) with tips about how to stay safe in extreme heat. Each messenger selected key safety tips to share with their followers, using a personalized approach to ensure every piece of advice from the campaign was shared multiple times by different creators. The diversity in creators and content also allowed XOMAD to have a diverse set of content, with different languages, to use for paid social media efforts to reach a larger audience with relatable content. The paid social media efforts mirrored the rising temperatures, and targeted local communities as the heat rose in the community.
In addition to creating personalized and authentic content, the trusted local messengers were provided pre-made PSAs that explained several extreme heat safety tips, including staying hydrated, wearing loose and lightweight clothing, staying indoors, and recognizing the signs of heat stroke.
The diverse group of messengers (and languages) helped educate at-risk communities facing dangerous high temperatures on how to stay safe and healthy.
Results:
Utilizing the power of creators from different backgrounds and cultures, the campaign effectively raised awareness about the importance of lifesaving information spotlighting extreme heat safety. Achieving an average Instagram engagement rate of 7.64%, which is 5.5 times higher than industry standards, the campaign ensured that crucial safety information reached as many people as possible across California. Featuring content from 58 creators in 27 California cities, Listos’ safety message reached audiences in every county and in seven languages. The project drove over 7,960 clicks to the Listos California website, and 88% of the creators identified as BIPOC, AAPI, or Latino/Hispanic. Through XOMAD’s meticulous digital plan to disseminate over 260 diverse pieces of media resources, the campaign reached 4.5 million people, with many seeing at least three pieces of content across Meta and TikTok. The campaign generated over 39,500 engagements over a 2-month period.