a way to bite back

Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease that affects more people now than ever before, hitting nearly half a billion people every year. Within that number, at least a million die, and 90% of those deaths are children in Africa. Compassion International is taking steps to fight back—or rather “Bite Back” against the disease.

The campaign Bite Back was originally intended to be an short-term project of Compassion International. Yet since it’s launch, it has gone incredibly viral without much of a marketing push.

“It’s taken on a life of its own,” says brand strategist Craig Johnson of Matchstic. “Just the word kind of continued to spread—people getting on the website—either buying t-shirts or making donations for the [mosquito] nets.”

Malaria is most often spread through being bitten by a mosquito carrying a malaria parasite. There are several ways to prevent being infected and one of the most effective ways is by using a mosquito net—and the Bite Back campaign aims to do just that. Their goal is to provide 300,000 nets to children across Africa in hopes of preventing the disease all together. The campaign also works in collaboration with Compassion to work on alternative ways to prevent the disease such as spraying insecticide inside and around houses and removing mosquito breeding grounds.

The main audience driving the campaign’s success is teenagers. “I think what this did was give them something very tangible that they could do, whether it was just a one time, $10, buy a net, and save a life,” Johnson said. “That’s not that hard to do, but a very simple, tangible thing you can do, that can make a difference.”

Bite Back
Compassion International