Drug Enforcement Administration

The Client

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) mission is to ensure the safety and health of American communities by combating criminal drug networks bringing harm, violence, overdoses, and poisonings to the United States. To accomplish this mission, the DEA employs approximately 10,000 personnel throughout the world – special agents, diversion investigators, intelligence analysts, chemists, and professional staff – across 241 domestic offices in 23 divisions and 93 foreign offices across the globe.

The Situation

Fentanyl drug overdose deaths have risen to more than 100,000+ per year (and continue to rise). The DEA wanted to create a campaign site to increase public awareness regarding the increasing danger of fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl. 

The Challenge

It was critical to get the campaign site launched as fast as possible to spread awareness of the fentanyl crisis. But, the campaign website still needed to adhere to the Agency's branding requirements.

The Solution

Partner Tactis had an established relationship with DEA, and it used its knowledge of its brand, style guide, audience and business requirements, and technology platform to launch the website as quickly as possible. The team began with a kickoff and requirements-gathering workshop within the first week and quickly entered into UX/Design/Development sprints. 

Tactis used approved styling and components and provided flexibility for different types of content, such as videos, carousels, stats, imagery, and a resource database. The team also used Pattern Lab, a sophisticated tool that breaks down user interfaces into smaller modular components. This allowed the team to efficiently construct a more seamless and scalable UI, delivering a highly customizable website design through modular development of Drupal themes. 

By holding daily Scrums and following all Agile ceremonies, Tactis ensured regular communication with the DEA, allowing the teams to quickly resolve any issues. And with Acquia managing the core platform, the teams could roll out the new campaign and website swiftly and efficiently.

The Results

The campaign website, One Pill Can Kill, specifically highlights the lethal nature of fentanyl, where even a tiny amount of 2 milligrams can be deadly. The campaign compares real and fake pills through videos featuring parents and teens who share their experiences with fentanyl. It also provides resources and support for teens, parents, and teachers and discusses the use of Naloxone (more commonly known as Narcan) in reversing the effects of drug overdose. 

Additionally, the website offers social media resources that users can share with their community, friends, and family to help spread awareness of the fentanyl crisis. It also highlights the work that the DEA is doing to protect the general public from tragedy in the evolution of the opioid overdose epidemic.

The DEA was "thrilled" with the campaign website, with one stakeholder sharing with Tactis, "I wanted to say thank you for the outstanding work! The One Pill Can Kill presentation went well today, and everyone is happy with the refresh. It's not every day we can present a new look and have zero design changes from the stakeholder….As you continue to work in the background, please remember that your great work is being seen around the globe and by everyone at the DEA and you are making a difference. Thank you so much!"