NJSGC and NY Sea Grant receive award from Fair Media Council for best “Social Media Public Awareness Campaign”

In the summer of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, as well as the middle of beach season, New York Sea Grant and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium developed and implemented a nine week social media campaign called “#BEachSAFEly”. The campaign was supported by a COVID-19 Rapid Response grant from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Sea Grant College Program.

While social distancing rules and limited public gathering limits were in place last summer due to the pandemic, outside public spaces remained open and beaches became one of the few places  people could escape. Recognizing the need to develop and promote messages that would encourage people to continue enjoying the beach while remaining aware of both COVID-19 and water-related hazards, the NY and NJ Sea Grant programs developed a digital media campaign to reinforce beach safety and COVID-19 restrictions.

The nine bilingual (available in English and Spanish) illustrated messages, created by freelance designer Joel Davenport, not only focused on standard “ocean hazards” tips such as “Break the Grip of the Rip,” but also incorporated general safety and health concerns related to COVID-19. Other messages included: “Stay social, be distant”; “Don’t let your mask become marine debris!”; “Stay dry when waves are high”; and “Grab your sunscreen and sanitizer,” among others.

Over a nine week period between July and September, #BEachSAFEly posts reached more than 9,345 stakeholders and received 738 engagements on Facebook and 22,724 impressions and 653 engagements on Twitter. Overall, the average engagement rate for this campaign was almost 10 times higher than what is considered high engagement. In a virtual ceremony held in April, the #BEachSAFEly campaign was recognized for both its design and effectiveness of conveying valuable health and safety information, receiving a Folio Award from the Fair Media Council (FMC) for best “Social Media Public Awareness Campaign.”

This summer, NY and NJ Sea Grant will build on the success of this all-virtual campaign by making the messaging and images available through individual postcards and combined posters to distribute to beach communities, public venues, and other community organizations. Financial contributions to partially cover the costs for printing and dissemination of the postcards and posters has been provided by the Jersey Shore Partnership, the Northeast Shore & Beach Preservation Association and the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute.

Keep an eye on our website for updated postcards and information.