Advertising Campaigns Master's Capstone | ADV 6399

For my graduate capstone, Advertising Campaigns, I worked with a small agency team to develop a full integrated marketing campaign for Dallas Fire-Rescue (DFR), one of the largest public safety departments in Texas, serving over 1.3 million residents across 380 square miles. The course is taught by Professor David Hadeler, a seasoned Dallas agency owner, and is the final course of the master's program. It runs like a real agency pitch: the client is in the room, the budget is real, and teams compete for the business. Learn more about the course and its past clients here.

While 98% of Dallas residents view DFR favorably, most only think about the department when an emergency occurs. Over a third believed DFR mainly responds to fires, even though fire calls make up just 17% of what they actually handle. Programs like community education, safety inspections, and youth outreach barely registered with residents, despite being a major part of DFR's everyday work.

The campaign we developed aimed to close that visibility gap by transforming passive trust into an active community partnership. Our strategy spanned paid and owned media, earned media, community events, and educational programming, all grounded in primary research from Dallas residents. The goal was to position DFR's firefighters not just as emergency heroes, but as everyday guardians already present in the community. View the full plansbook below.