What Rescue SCG does

Rescue Agency is a 100% employee-owned behavior change marketing agency that develops public health campaigns exclusively for state and federal government agencies, foundations, and nonprofit organizations. Founded in 2001 (corporate filings reference 2004) and headquartered in San Diego, the firm operates across more than a dozen U.S. states plus Quebec, Canada, with offices in San Diego, Culver City, Albuquerque, Sacramento, Washington D.C., and Oklahoma City. Its named clients include the California Department of Public Health, FDA Center for Tobacco Products, multiple state health departments (Vermont, Illinois, Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, Oklahoma TSET, New Mexico, Connecticut, Colorado), and national organizations such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota and Hawaii Community Foundation.

The company's core offering rests on four registered proprietary behavior change frameworks — Social Branding®, Decision Blocks™, Policy 360™, and SAVI Messaging™ — that combine psychographic segmentation with research-driven audience insights to design campaigns targeting high-risk populations, particularly youth and young adults. These frameworks are operationalized through a Ready-Made Campaign portfolio covering tobacco (Behind the Haze, Down and Dirty, 24/7), opioids (People's Opioid Project, Over the Dose, Quit the Hit), marijuana (Let's Talk Cannabis), alcohol (Check Yourself), and nutrition (CalFresh Healthy Living). Quit the Hit, co-developed with Hopelab and UCSF, extends the firm into interactive digital cessation via a five-week Instagram program with live moderation. Published peer-reviewed evaluations demonstrate statistically significant behavior change (e.g., Commune showed current smoking falling from 57% to 48%, P=.002).

Revenue is generated primarily through professional services contracts — multi-year engagements procured through government procurement processes at federal, state, and local levels — augmented by licensing Ready-Made Campaign packages to health organizations at three implementation tiers (Independent, Blend, Full Partner). The firm is a Public Benefit LLC and Certified B Corp since 2014, with 100% employee ownership providing capital structure stability but limiting externally fueled expansion. GSA Schedule status permits direct federal procurement, and the firm operates youth mobilization programs (Evolvement®, Y Street) that contribute to community engagement and policy outcomes.

Name

Rescue SCG

Legal name

Rescue Agency, Public Benefit LLC

Website

https://rescueagency.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Rescue Agency is a 100% employee-owned behavior change marketing agency that develops evidence-based public health campaigns—spanning tobacco, opioid, nutrition, alcohol, and marijuana topics—for state and federal government agencies and nonprofit organizations across 12+ U.S. states and Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Health Marketing Services

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Substance Use Recovery & Harm Reduction Support Services (BPAGAEAO)

Keywords

• Behavior change marketing
• Public health campaigns
• Tobacco control campaigns
• Opioid prevention programs
• Health communication strategy

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Health Agency Contracts: Contracts with state and federal government health agencies (departments of public health, FDA, etc.) to develop and implement public health behavior change campaigns. These are typically multi-year contracted projects.
2. Nonprofit Organization Partnerships: Partnerships with nonprofit organizations including health foundations, advocacy groups, and community organizations to develop health behavior change campaigns.
3. Ready-Made Campaign Licensing: Licensing of pre-developed evidence-based campaign packages (Ready-Made Campaigns) including tobacco prevention, opioid misuse prevention, and other health topics. Health organizations can license campaigns for local implementation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Rescue Agency is a behavior change marketing agency that develops and implements public health campaigns for government agencies and nonprofit organizations. The company combines research-driven insights with psychographic segmentation and proprietary frameworks (Social Branding®, Decision Blocks™, Policy 360™, SAVI Messaging™) to design campaigns that change health behaviors across tobacco, opioid, alcohol, marijuana, and nutrition topics. It also licenses pre-developed Ready-Made Campaigns for local implementation by health organizations.

Product overview

Rescue Agency is a behavior change marketing company that offers a portfolio of proprietary frameworks and licensable campaign programs focused on public health. The core offerings include four behavior change frameworks—Decision Blocks™, Policy 360™, Social Branding®, and SAVI Messaging™—which serve as the strategic foundation for all campaigns. The company provides Ready-Made Campaigns (Behind the Haze, Down and Dirty, Quit the Hit, People's Opioid Project) that health organizations can license for quick implementation, as well as custom campaign case studies demonstrating their approach across health topics including tobacco, opioids, marijuana, alcohol, and nutrition. The overall offering is a service-based model combining research, strategy, creative development, and media implementation rather than a unified software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Social Branding®: A behavior change framework to shift social norms within targeted audiences by associating healthy behaviors with core audience values.
• Decision Blocks™
• Policy 360™
• SAVI Messaging™

Products and services

• Social Branding® A proprietary behavior change framework that uses targeted Social Brands to associate healthy behaviors with audience values and lifestyles through psychographic segmentation. Sold as a strategic methodology applied within Rescue's campaign services for government and nonprofit clients.
• Decision Blocks™ A communications framework that identifies which types of information are most motivating to target audiences and delivers tailored messages to change knowledge of risks associated with unhealthy behaviors. Applied in Rescue's public health campaign engagements.
• Policy 360™ A strategic framework that promotes policy changes making unhealthy behaviors harder or healthy behaviors easier, supported by a proprietary Policy 360 Scorecard for prioritizing policies and identifying stakeholders.
• SAVI Messaging™ A communications framework that breaks down complex social change topics into Specific, Acceptable, Viable, and Impactful messages, shifting from general advice to specific behavioral guidance.
• Quit the Hit A 5-week Instagram-based vaping cessation program for young people, developed in partnership with Hopelab and UCSF. Licensed as a Ready-Made Campaign with Message Packages for health organizations.
• Behind the Haze An evidence-based youth vaping prevention Ready-Made Campaign offered as licensable Message Packages for health organizations to deploy locally.
• Down and Dirty A Ready-Made Campaign for rural teen tobacco prevention (cigarettes, chew, vaping), offered as evidence-based Message Packages for health organizations to license.
• People's Opioid Project A Ready-Made Campaign offering evidence-based Message Packages to reduce opioid use and promote treatment, licensed by health organizations for local implementation.
• Custom Behavior Change Campaign Services Full-service contracted campaign development for state and federal government health agencies and nonprofit organizations, covering research, strategy, creative production, media implementation, community engagement, and measurement.
• Ready-Made Campaign Implementation Support Three implementation support tiers (Independent, Blend, Full Partner) accompanying licensed Ready-Made Campaigns, ranging from self-implementation to full campaign management by Rescue.

Quantifiable outcome

• Current smoking decreased from 57% to 48% (P=.002) and daily smoking from 22% to 15% (P<.001) in San Diego Hipster population after Commune campaign
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• HopelabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Hopelab to co-develop Quit the Hit, an Instagram-based cessation program to help young people quit vaping. Hopelab provides expertise in digital health interventions and youth-focused health technology.
• UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with UCSF to develop Quit the Hit vaping cessation program. UCSF provides tobacco control research expertise and academic credibility to the intervention.
• California Department of Social ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with California Department of Social Services on CalFresh Healthy Living nutrition and physical activity campaign for CalFresh-eligible populations.
• University of California CalFresh ExtensioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with UC CalFresh Extension as State Implementing Agency for nutrition education and physical activity promotion campaigns.
• Catholic Charities of CaliforniasupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Catholic Charities of California as State Implementing Agency for CalFresh Healthy Living program implementation.
• California Department on AgingsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with California Department on Aging as State Implementing Agency for CalFresh Healthy Living program supporting older adults.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• kglobal: Public affairs, advertising, and digital agency serving government, advocacy, and corporate clients with integrated campaigns. Comparable in combining paid media, creative, and digital capabilities for regulated and public-sector buyers.
• Hillenbrand & Partners (H&P): Public affairs and strategic communications firm working with corporations, nonprofits, and associations on policy, advocacy, and behavior-change campaigns. Overlaps with Rescue in translating research and policy objectives into audience-facing campaigns.
• Fenton Communications: Public-interest communications and social-impact PR firm working with foundations, nonprofits, and cause-driven brands on health, education, and equity campaigns. Comparable positioning as a behavior-change and narrative agency serving mission-driven clients.
• GMMB: Washington, DC-based advertising and marketing firm specializing in social impact campaigns for nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies. Directly comparable to Rescue in serving public-interest clients with brand, creative, and media capabilities across health and cause-driven work.
• Burness: Communications and marketing firm supporting nonprofits, foundations, and associations on health, social justice, and policy issues. Comparable as a mission-driven agency creating behavior-change and awareness campaigns for public-interest clients.
• Crosby Marketing Communications: Integrated marketing agency with a strong public-sector and healthcare practice serving government agencies and nonprofits. Closely comparable in client mix (federal/state health agencies) and full-service campaign delivery model.
• Babcock & Jenkins (B&J): Healthcare marketing agency serving hospital systems, health plans, and public health organizations with strategy, creative, and media services. Closely comparable in health-focused marketing services targeting regulated and government-adjacent buyers.
• Spitfire Strategies: Strategic communications firm focused on social-change campaigns for nonprofits and foundations, with emphasis on message development and movement building. Overlaps with Rescue's policy- and behavior-change campaign work for advocacy clients.
• The Hatcher Group: Public affairs and creative agency serving mission-driven organizations, with deep work in health, education, and social policy. Comparable to Rescue in combining research-driven strategy with creative campaign execution for public-sector clients.

Broad incumbents

• The Ad Council: Long-established nonprofit producer of public service advertising campaigns across health, safety, and social issues. Overlaps with Rescue's government and nonprofit public-health campaign work at much larger scale and broader topical coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rescuescg
• Facebookfacebook.com/rescueagency
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1100176

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rescue SCG