University of Maryland Medical Center

Grassroots influence and culturally aligned storytelling that moved an at-risk community toward life-changing care.

The University of Maryland Medical Center launched a major public health initiative to address diabetes in Baltimore through the Baltimore Metropolitan Diabetes Regional Partnership. The goal was straightforward and urgent. Reach residents who were living with pre-diabetes or diabetes. Build trust. And guide them toward programs that could help them prevent, manage, or reduce the impact of the disease.

What Works Studio was engaged to design a strategy that could meet the community where they already were. The challenge was not only to raise awareness, but to inspire real enrollment among audiences who are often overlooked by traditional healthcare marketing.

A Campaign Built on Familiar Voices

Our approach began with a simple truth. People listen differently when the messenger feels like one of their own. To create that dynamic, we developed a grassroots, multichannel campaign centered around local influencers, cultural touchpoints, and community-first storytelling.

Baltimore personality DJ Porkchop became the anchor voice of the campaign. His presence created instant credibility and made the message feel local, familiar, and trustworthy. One single Instagram post from Porkchop generated hundreds of positive engagements affirming the message and strengthening program trust.

Alongside influencer content, we deployed a coordinated field strategy that included street-team activations, staffed information booths at community events, and geofenced digital ads designed to drive real-world foot traffic. Digital media placements extended the reach through connected TV, streaming radio, and targeted social ads. A custom campaign landing page created a clear path from interest to enrollment.

A Human-Centered Strategy That Worked

The campaign succeeded because it respected the lived experiences of West Baltimore residents. It featured imagery, voices, and scenarios that reflected their daily lives and honored their realities. It provided information that felt accessible rather than clinical. And it gave people multiple points of entry to learn, engage, and take action.

The result was a citywide effort that translated awareness into meaningful response and produced thousands of interactions that supported the overarching public-health mission.

Key Outcomes

• Generated more than 11.5 million impressions across campaign channels

• Drove 47,000 visits to the campaign landing page

• Achieved a 98.5 percent video completion rate

• Delivered 1,019 qualified leads for UMMC diabetes prevention and treatment programs

• Influencer-driven posts created strong positive sentiment including 774 likes and 70 supportive comments on a single post

• Secured coverage on WJZ and other earned-media placements

• Activated grassroots engagement through street teams and community-based installations

• Successfully used geofencing to drive foot traffic to staffed information booths