More than seven million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. According to new data from the Alzheimer’s Association, that number is expected to increase significantly as the senior population in the United States continues to grow. It's a devastating disease, one that touches many of us personally. At the same time, we’re seeing that brain health is a rapidly growing area of interest, as more research becomes available and breakthrough early diagnostic tests and treatments for diseases like Alzheimer's emerge.
The Ad Council has been working with the Alzheimer’s Association since 2019 to educate Americans on the importance and benefits of early Alzheimer's detection. We aim to reach “pre-care partners,” those close family members who are typically the first to notice changes in their loved one’s behavior.
Early detection of Alzheimer’s is critical in leading to better care, management and treatment of the disease. Yet, early signs of Alzheimer's often get dismissed as normal aging and many people, especially older Black and Hispanic adults, are either underdiagnosed or diagnosed late.
Our challenge and opportunity, then, is finding the right way to equip pre-care partners with the information they need to make the best decisions for their family. Our award-winning campaign has reached and educated millions, and along the way we‘ve picked up some invaluable insights on how to effectively do just that.
Here are our top five takeaways:
Hear them out: let your audience tell you what they need.
When our Alzheimer’s Awareness campaign first launched, our strategy centered on encouraging people, when noticing changes in a loved one, to talk about seeing a doctor together. And we saw great results.
The creative work received significant donated media support, data showed that people were increasingly recognizing the ads, and we drove millions of visits to the campaign site, which provided resources on how to have that difficult conversation.
Then, a few years into the campaign, research revealed a new opportunity. We identified there was relatively less traction among Hispanic pre-care partners being willing or feeling confident about talking to a loved one about going to the doctor. So, we conducted new audience research with The Magnetic Collective and Lopez Negrete Communications (LNC), and we listened.
Our audience told us that one of the big reasons they didn’t feel comfortable bringing up the topic was that they were scared they’d be wrong. We realized we needed to take a step back and focus more on building knowledge of early signs first—the campaign had to help them walk before they could run.
In 2023, we launched a new phase of creative, developed pro-bono by Hispanic community-focused agency Lopez Negrete Communications, called “Some Things Come with Age.” Give it a watch.
This work was designed specifically to reach Hispanic and Latine adults, while maintaining its relevance to the general market. In it, we distinguish normal aging from more worrisome signs, like how having the confidence to add flair to your fashion comes with age, but forgetting how to add doesn’t. The spot educates on those early warning signs and with a nod to an online search bar at the end, drives viewers to learn them all at 10signs.org (10senales.org).
Since the new strategy adjustment, we’ve seen an increase among not only Hispanic pre-care partners, but all core audience groups, reporting they successfully “learned about the difference between signs of aging and signs of Alzheimer’s.”
When comparing those who report having seen campaign work to those who have not, the results are even stronger. Among Hispanic and Latine pre-care partners, those who are familiar with the ads are nearly 2.5x as likely to know the difference in the signs, and more than 3x as likely to have visited a website to learn more. And as of April 2025, there have been nearly 4.4 million visits to the site.
K.I.S.S.
Once in this new phase, our goal centered on both educating people on the early signs of Alzheimer’s and encouraging them to engage in more confident conversations with their loved ones. Seemed simple enough.
Research illuminated another valuable takeaway. When conducting testing for our next creative work, focus groups revealed some confusion over what they were being asked to do. We learned that including multiple calls to action—to learn the signs and have the conversation—could feel overly complicated.
Our campaign can and should be singular in its focus and CTA. Simply put, to: learn the early warning signs of Alzheimer’s.
It can be tempting to say everything in the short time you have with your audience. But beware of getting in your own way. First, we needed our audience to know the information, to be clear on what early signs to look out for—and we had to do that in a clear and compelling way. Once we drove people to the website, then they could get connected to resources to help them start the conversation—when they’re ready. We didn’t need that all in the spot.
Our campaign lives in a large ecosystem of other vital voices on the issue. Research helped ensure our unique message remained clear, actionable and effective.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
When you have a successful creative platform, don’t abandon it for any shiny new thing. Our “Some Things Come with Age” creative has not only received millions of dollars in donated media support, and helped drive millions of site sessions—it has also won awards for strategic excellence. Before long, we knew we had something worth keeping. We soon started working on complementary assets with a primary focus on reaching Black and African American audiences.
Of course, this also requires having great agencies on board. We’ve preserved LNC’s creative anchor in “some things come with age, while some others don’t”—actually keeping that line in as dialogue when we saw just how sticky it was in focus groups. VML, our agency of record for the next creative suite, then added a new layer: preserving wisdom.
This is the idea that for years you’ve learned from them, and now is your opportunity to learn for them. It’s rooted in the research insight that for many Black and Hispanic families, elder family members are the pillars of their communities, with priceless wisdom to share.
Developed pro-bono by VML, our new creative suite “Warning Signs” launched Spring 2025. These videos show a family working together as they notice changes in their mother, preserving everything from family recipes to treasured memories. (We can’t resist–give this one a watch too.) The video is complemented by print, digital and social assets. Each and every execution is used to educate.
Together with our (truly) creative partners, we found a way to build upon the strong foundation by LNC, and bring the campaign to its next chapter with VML, preserving what works while staying fresh and relevant.
When storytelling isn’t the whole story: Find a tone that works.
We all know it’s a growing challenge to grab attention in this increasingly distracted world. We also know storytelling is a great way to do it. But it must be done in an intentional way, and learning how to achieve that was another benefit that came from investing in audience testing.
Audience research conducted by Ahzul showed us that our work was more motivating when we spent more time on educating on the signs, rather than on the story itself.
It’s all well and good to make a spot that tugs on the heart strings, and we certainly did not want to lose the narrative at the heart of the spot. But for many topics, especially an inherently emotional one like Alzheimer’s, it may not be necessary to place the emphasis there, and it may actually get in the way.
Ahzul’s research also revealed some instructive insights on how communication styles differ and are significantly impacted by culture.
Hispanic and Latine pre-care partners often use humor to avoid confrontation. It helps diffuse tension. Among both white and Black adults, research showed they prefer a more direct approach. Black adults expressed wanting to break down generational traumas and do things differently than their parents did, like fostering a more open and honest dialogue.
Because different audiences approach and talk about these difficult topics, well, differently, we made sure to have our creative reflect that.
Don’t do it alone
The campaign has always been committed to ensuring our messaging gets in front of our audiences, and doing so in authentic, culturally resonant ways. But we can’t do it alone—we’ve found some great partners to help us go deeper.
One recent activation was through the campaign’s presence at ‘How Sweet the Sound,’ a national gospel music competition tour where we were able to participate in the faith-based community. As a sponsor for the season-opening event, the campaign showed up through on-site attendance where we engaged in one-on-one conversations with attendees and an on-stage educational moment partnering with up-and-coming gospel artist DOE. We even shared handouts with information including the 10 early warning signs printed on church fans, tailoring our placement to be both culturally and contextually relevant (and way better than a flyer). This partnership helped us complement our “air game” campaign work with a “ground game,” face-to-face initiative.
We also knew we needed a partner who could help us thoughtfully continue to reach the Hispanic and Latine community, knowing they remain an important audience for this issue. Recent data from the Alzheimer’s Association shows us that still, older Black adults are 2x as likely to develop Alzheimer’s or dementia, and older Hispanic adults are 1.5x more likely, compared to older white adults.
LatiNation, the only remaining Latino-owned TV network in the Hispanic television space, joined forces with us to create additional assets. Their talk-to-camera style videos showcase influencers from the Latine community, talking about the early signs of Alzheimer’s and benefits of early detection. With the LatiNation team and talent all having personal stories of loved ones with Alzheimer’s, we knew we had found a partner that would inject authenticity into their work. And, one that reflected the familial values we know are so central to this community. They bring the creative platform to life in their own way, adding in levity and cultural traditions that people can relate to.
SiriusXM Media was another great partner for extending this creative strategy in new ways to reach our target audiences. They too had essential cultural representation on the teams that worked on the creative, with experts from the communities weighing in to ensure authenticity. In custom ‘Preserving Wisdom’ radio spots they developed for the campaign, they also added new music, customizing the English and Spanish spots with music relevant to those respective audiences. The Spanish spot features soft bolero and upbeat salsa, while the English spot, featuring a Black family, plays soul and R&B. The spots are engaging, educational and resonant.
While June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, our work continues year-round. The campaign has stayed nimble, relied on data, listened to its audiences and engaged thoughtful and relevant partners. We remain committed to the fight against this disease, working together to get people the information they need, so they can help preserve what matters most.