Company: A&E Network
Agency: Civic Entertainment Group
Timeframe: 2008-ongoing
Ever since Barack Obama kicked off his presidential campaign around the now-ubiquitous “Change We Can Believe In” platform, change itself has been a central theme in many facets of modern-day society.
For A&E Network executives, though, the change theme proved to be particularly poignant when paired with “The Recovery Project,” a multi-platform campaign inspired by the brand’s refreshed positioning— A&E Real Life. Drama. Likewise, the Recovery Project itself was branded with the network’s social outreach message umbrella, “Real Life. Change.,” upon its launch in July 2008.
The Recovery Project’s goal of generating widespread awareness that addiction is a treatable disease and that recovery is possible was conceived after A&E’s original, award-winning series Intervention, which documents individual stories of addiction and recovery, rose to become the network’s highest-rated show.
A&E communications executives realized the show’s premise fell in line seamlessly with their chosen social outreach initiative, as well as with the change-centric tagline. Plus, the tagline, coupled with the initiative’s objectives, further enhanced the network’s refreshed brand focus on television that is intense, authentic and dramatic.
The Recovery Project, then, would be a definite slam-dunk—that is, if the communications team could get the cause-branding initiative the exposure needed to bring awareness to the 22 million Americans struggling with addiction.
CAUSE REHABILITATION
Taking into account this startling statistic, not to mention the fact that fewer than 10% of that 22 million receive the treatment they need because of stigma, lack of awareness or cost, the team behind the Recovery Project had its work cut out for it.
At the start of the program, A&E executives tapped agency partner Civic Entertainment Group and outlined the following goals:
• Create an ongoing program that leveraged the A&E brand’s assets on-air, online and in-market to spread the message and advance the cause of recovery;
• Launch the program with a high-profile event that celebrates recovery and draws national attention;
• Promote existing resources for treatment, research and prevention;
• Build grassroots momentum with education, outreach and advocacy; and,
• Develop a range of outreach elements, including a Web site, town hall meetings and public service announcements (PSAs), to address prevention among diverse audiences.
These goals weren’t insignificant by any means, even for the savvy marketers at A&E Network. After all, addicts and their loved ones make up a diverse community that draws from every socioeconomic and cultural demographic, and is not confined to a single race, region or class.
Aside from this monumental challenge, the Recovery Project team had to understand the nuances of addiction in order to de-stigmatize it for a society that often dismisses it as personal shortcoming rather than a deadly disease.
“One of the biggest barriers to treatment is the stigma surrounding addiction,” says John Hartinger, vice president of integrated marketing for A&E Network. “Many people don’t accept the concept of addiction as a disease.”
To overcome the stigma, the team had to arm the campaign with bulletproof information that convinced skeptics that addiction is no different than any other chronic disease and sufferers should be treated accordingly.
“We had to figure out how we would communicate our support for this health issue in a clear and succinct way,” says Seth Webb, director of special projects at Civic Entertainment Group. “We wanted to make sure that we had the content right, so we talked to all the experts and then tightened our messages.”
Getting the content right would be critical to the success of the campaign. The team had to amass plenty of research, which it did over the course of six months with the help of partner organizations, including Partnership for a Drug-Free America, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) and Faces and Voices of Recovery.
According to Webb, “The strategic partnerships connected us with millions of people around the country that care about this issue.”
A FRESH START
Based on the research and strategic partnerships, the team realized that the best role for A&E to raise national awareness and help erase addiction’s stigma would be to make the issue part of everyday dialogue. Research also showed that the Recovery Project would have a more positive impact if it focused on the opportunities for recovery rather than simply dwelling on the challenges of addiction.
With this information in their arsenal, the communications executives planned and executed the campaign’s multiple elements:
• The Recovery Rally: More than 5,000 people from across the country gathered at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge to celebrate National Recovery Month. Attendees, including A&E executives, recovering addicts, celebrities, government officials and nonprofit leaders, formed a human chain across the bridge, creating a living symbol of recovery that resonated with viewers and media nationwide.
• Recovery Delegates: The A&E team partnered with the NCADD to select individuals from all 50 states who had been in recovery for at least 10 years to serve as Recovery Delegates. This group not only led the Recovery Rally, but they acted as living examples that addiction is a very real—and very beatable—disease. “Then we targeted local media to cover their stories,” Webb says, noting that this strategy helped broaden the media relations opportunities and, in turn, the amount of coverage the initiative was able to garner.
• TheRecoveryProject.com: This Web portal continues to act as an information hub where visitors can access resources, plan or attend local events, share personal stories, connect with legislators and community leaders and volunteer.
• Public Service Announcements: A&E executives dedicated valuable on-air time to run a series of public service announcements highlighting the importance of treatment and the hope for recovery. Among the celebrities featured were Whoopi Goldberg, Russell Simmons and Benjamin Bratt.
CHANGE THEY DID BELIEVE IN
A&E’s multi-pronged cause branding campaign around addiction treatment and recovery effectively embodied real life and change. Media coverage drew 7.5 million impressions in major outlets, and A&E established itself as a leader in social outreach. Most significant, though, Recovery Delegates from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., appeared at the Brooklyn Bridge rally to represent more than 1,000 years of addiction recovery.
But the 2008 launch isn’t the end of the story. In 2009 and beyond, Webb says, “We want to grow the movement, expand the communications effort and get more people involved.”
The team will achieve this growth by expanding the number of cities with rallies and events, enlisting more celebrities to help raise awareness and expanding the Recovery Delegates program to seek more applicants—in a nutshell, by taking the power of our medium and linking it up with more partners in the treatment and recovery fields so we continue to get the word out that addiction is a treatable disease,” Hartinger says. “At A&E, we profile stories of families in crisis who need help. The Recovery Project helps to complete the story that Intervention begins.” PRN
CONTACTS:
Seth Webb, [email protected]; John Hartinger, [email protected]