Entry Category
Program Entry – Overall Social Marketing
Name of Intervention/ Program
Ghost Gang Life
Background and Situation Analysis
The Manitoba Association of Chiefs of Police (MACP) Organized Crime Committee brings together representatives from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) with frontline expertise in organized crime, gangs, firearms and illicit drugs. Their most urgent concerns were the growth of gang activity in Winnipeg and communities across Manitoba, and the increasing recruitment of young people. In 2019, the WPS Gangs and Guns Unit estimated that Winnipeg was home to 25 to 30 gangs and as many as 4,000 gang members and associates. By 2022, estimates had risen to approximately 40 street gangs. Youth vulnerable to recruitment, including Indigenous youth affected by systemic inequity, often face intersecting barriers such as childhood trauma, poverty, the intergenerational impacts of oppression, school disengagement and limited economic opportunity. In this context, the promise of belonging can be especially powerful. These gangs are involved in violent crimes, drug dealing and sexual exploitation with the violence in these crimes escalating over the years. MACP secured funding from Manitoba Justice to help young people avoid or leave gang involvement, then partnered with us to develop a campaign that would connect vulnerable youth with credible, accessible off-ramps. In 2023 and 2024, we produced video game-inspired campaigns that raised awareness of gang recruitment and promoted resources for getting out. We partnered with The Link, a Manitoba organization with more than 90 years of experience providing wraparound support to youth and families through a 24-hour crisis line, youth resource centres, emergency shelters, mobile crisis teams, specialized foster care, healing homes, job-readiness programming and skills development. The campaigns delivered strong results, but performance softened in 2024, signalling that the established creative was losing its ability to break through. The issue had not become less urgent. To regain attention among an audience highly resistant to institutional messaging, MACP needed a bold new idea that felt relevant to youth culture, protected anonymity and made asking for help immediate and low-risk.
Priority Audiences(s)
Our primary audience was youth across Manitoba at risk of gang recruitment or already involved, including Indigenous youth facing barriers and young people seeking belonging. Consultations with law, community organizations and former gang members revealed three critical insights: police-sponsored messaging would be dismissed; fear of reprisal made anonymity essential; and text felt safer than call. This audience was quick to reject conventional advertising and difficult to engage. The campaign needed to be non-judgmental and discreet, with an immediate path to help. Our target audience was younger than initially thought with youth ranging from 12-14 years old as the primary audience.
Behavioral Objectives
Our primary objective was to motivate youth at risk of, or already involved in, gang activity to initiate an anonymous text conversation with The Link. This was the most important action because it connected a young person directly to practical support and resources for avoiding or leaving gang life. Secondary objectives were to drive visits to the campaign landing page, encourage use of its resources and build awareness of a safe, confidential off-ramp. We also aimed to equip community organizations, schools and other trusted partners with materials they could use to extend the campaign’s reach and reinforce the message in places where vulnerable youth lived, learned and sought support.
Description of Strategy/Intervention
The creative strategy was built around one simple behaviour familiar to youth: ghosting. We reframed “ghosting” from abruptly cutting off a personal relationship into an act of agency. Youth could ghost the gang life by severing contact and taking a first, discreet step toward support. The concept avoided lectures, threats and institutional language. Instead, it gave the audience a memorable metaphor that felt native to how they communicate. At the centre of the campaign was a distinctive “tag”: a custom QR code shaped like a ghost, paired with provocative, minimal copy and a text number. The symbol functioned as both a street-inspired tag and a digital access point. It appeared in social content and public spaces with little or no explanation, creating curiosity before revealing the campaign’s purpose. A scan or click led to a mobile-first landing page where users could immediately text The Link and access resources. The creative led with a symbol, not an institution. This was critical because former gang members told us that overt police sponsorship would cause the target audience to dismiss the message before engaging with it. Rather than asking youth to trust a law-enforcement message, the campaign connected them to The Link, a trusted youth-serving organization. The strategy worked for five reasons: • Intrigue: The unexplained ghost tag disrupted familiar advertising patterns and invited the audience to investigate. • Relevance: “Ghosting” used language and behaviour already understood by youth, allowing the message to feel contemporary rather than imposed. • Simplicity: One scan or click connected a user to support. The link could also remain on their phone until they were ready to act. • Anonymity and control: Youth could explore the campaign, access information and begin a text conversation without publicly identifying themselves or making an immediate commitment. This reduced the perceived risk of reaching out. • Versatility and community presence: The ghost icon could move easily across digital ads, posters, transit shelters, projections, cards and partner materials. Its repeated presence made the message recognizable while allowing community organizations to become visible points of care. The campaign treated support as an off-ramp, not a lecture. It met youth on their terms, protected their privacy and made the first step out of gang life feel possible.
Implementation
The campaign used an integrated mix of digital advertising, out-of-home placements and community distribution. Tactics included TikTok, Snapchat, transit shelters, street posters, convenience-store posters, outdoor projections, community outreach and printed materials. The ghost tag created a consistent visual thread across every touchpoint. TikTok and Snapchat were the primary digital platforms because they aligned closely with the target audience’s media habits. Stakeholder research also indicated that many youth used Snapchat not only to share photos and videos, but as a primary messaging platform. This made it a natural environment for a campaign built around a discreet, text-based path to help. We worked closely with WPS, RCMP, MACP and former gang members to guide placement decisions. Transit shelters, street posters and convenience-store materials were concentrated in areas where gang activity and recruitment were known concerns. Every location was considered for its ability to put the message directly in front of the intended audience. Outdoor projections extended the campaign into high-traffic cultural and sporting moments. They were scheduled around two major Winnipeg events: the three-day Burt Block Party and Canadian Elite Basketball League Championship Weekend. These placements transformed the ghost tag into a large-scale public intervention and broadened awareness beyond paid social media. A key challenge was reaching communities outside Winnipeg, particularly rural areas where gang activity is also a significant concern. We addressed this through collaboration with the RCMP and community organizations, which distributed posters, QR-code cards and supporting resources across the province. The campaign also opened an important new avenue for expansion. Pembina Trails School Division, one of Manitoba’s largest school divisions, contacted us in response to concerns about increasing gang activity among youth. We supplied printed and digital materials for rollout across its high schools and junior high schools. The division serves 17,663 full-time students. That interest led to consultations with Pembina Trails and other Manitoba school divisions about broader campaign expansion in 2026. By combining targeted media, carefully selected physical placements and trusted community distribution, the campaign reached youth in the digital spaces they used, the neighbourhoods they moved through and the institutions positioned to support them.
Evaluation Methods and Results
We assessed the campaign against its awareness, engagement, action and amplification objectives using social platform analytics, website traffic, text-line activity, partner distribution tracking and earned-media monitoring. The campaign generated: • 6.6 million social media impressions • 48,250 website clicks • An average CPM of $2.80, outperforming applicable benchmarks • A 0.93% click-through rate on Snapchat, the strongest of all platforms • 133 text-line conversations from 123 unique users • Distribution of campaign materials to more than 25 agencies across Manitoba • Adoption by a major Manitoba school division • Earned media coverage from the Winnipeg Free Press, CTV, Global, CJOB and CityTV The most important result was behavioural. A total of 123 unique users initiated 133 text-line conversations, directly fulfilling the campaign’s primary objective of connecting people with immediate, confidential support. The digital performance also validated the channel strategy. Snapchat produced the strongest click-through rate, confirming the value of meeting the audience on a platform they already used for private communication. The $2.80 average CPM allowed the campaign to achieve broad reach efficiently. Beyond paid media, province-wide agency distribution, school-division adoption and earned coverage extended the campaign’s life and credibility. Together, the results show that the campaign did more than generate awareness. It converted attention into confidential conversations, equipped trusted organizations to extend the message and created a foundation for broader school-based expansion.
Entry Number: 05