Public Health Is Everywhere: Bringing an Awareness Campaign to Campus

Creative

The Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine is the first school of public health in the United States. Based in New Orleans, Tulane trains researchers, advocates, and problem solvers who address health challenges from the Gulf South to communities worldwide. Each April, the American Public Health Association designates National Public Health Week to recognize the work of public health professionals and educate communities on the issues shaping collective well-being.

In addition to ongoing social media management for Tulane’s Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Online Optimism produced a suite of print and digital assets to support the “Public Health Is” campaign during National Public Health Week 2026.

Slideshow of yard signs with 'Public Health Is' headlines

Yard sign on Tulane's campus which reads "Public health is shaping the choices that shape outcomes" and a photo of a woman buying groceries.

From Social Media to IRL Media

WSPH’s “Public Health Is” campaign reframes public health for both students and the general public, showing that public health extends well beyond vaccines and disease outbreaks to include safe streets, clean water, environmental health, and more. For National Public Health Week 2026, Online Optimism designed and produced a suite of physical and digital assets to bring that message to campus. Each piece of media included a QR code that directed viewers to a page on WSPH’s site with a schedule of the week’s events.

Yard Signs

Yard signs placed across campus connected the “Public Health Is” message to different academic disciplines, meeting students where they already were and showing how public health intersects with nearly every field of study.

Printed Banners

Banners gave school representatives a consistent backdrop for information tables and events throughout the week. Additionally, a large-format banner hung the full week in the student center, serving as a central, visible anchor for the campaign on campus.

Digital Banners

Digital screen content formatted for televisions throughout the student center kept the campaign visible in high-traffic areas even outside scheduled events.

Connecting to An Ongoing Campaign

During the same time period that the print materials were presented, Online Optimism’s Creative Team and Social Media team worked together to design and share social media graphics that connected to National Public Health Week. These included posts continuing the ideas of the awareness campaign themes in the yard signs and banners as well as a schedule of events that WSPH presented during the week. The result was a week where the “Public Health Is” message showed up consistently, whether a student was walking to class, grabbing lunch, or scrolling their feed.

Phones with Instagram screenshots of WSPH's feed.

From the Client

When we started planning for National Public Health Week, it just made complete sense to ask Online Optimism to create the assets to go with it. They had already been working with us on a digital awareness campaign and having the look and feel of the campaigns work together really elevated our efforts to promote awareness week events. It came together beautifully!