To make doing drugs "uncool" for teens, healthcare marketers have to do more than preach it, by backing up anti-drug messages with useful incentive-based strategy that this trendy target can relate to and immediately benefit from. In spite of all the flack the Internet is getting about its uncensored and offensive content, it is still emerging as one of the more compelling marketing vehicles to reach this Web-savvy group who does not respond to "This is your brain on drugs."
To push the staid marketing approach to teen drug prevention, a new anti-drug online initiative, called STEP (Students, Teachers, Employers and Parents), is taking shape to offer high school students meaningful reasons to avoid substance abuse, and healthcare providers and corporations an opportunity to slow the soaring trends of teen drug abuse.
STEP, in conjunction with CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America), the largest organization of anti-drug groups in the country, and Prosoft I-Net Solutions, Inc., a leading Internet/Intranet training company based in Carson, Calif., aims to give teens the most compelling reason to "just say no" with deep retail discounts and Internet literacy skills.
This program arrives on the heels of heated consumer backlash over kids' disturbingly easy access to Web porn and designer drug sites that provide step-by-step instructions on how to manufacture a wide range of drugs from amphetamines to heroine-based drugs, according to Nelson Cooney, CADCA's senior VP.
CADCA, which currently doesn't have a glitzy online presence to combat the proliferation of more than 30 pro-drug Web sites, is looking to STEP to create a counter "hip" image for kids to pass up trendy drug use for the promise of a financially sound future. And, the only way to convince kids to steer clear of drugs is to offer them an opportunity to "get paid," according to STEP's founder John Eubanks. STEP's financial incentives and training program is what differentiates it from previous high profile substance abuse prevention efforts like "Scared Straight" and "Just Say No."
The STEP program aims to arm its core target of teens (ages 12-17) with two vital skill sets: learning how to avoid the dead-end reality of drug use while obtaining powerful expertise on the Web's research engines and multimedia-based capabilities for creating sites and hyperlinks. Expected to debut this Fall, the anticipated $32 million effort is the most aggressive online anti-drug campaign to target teens in 19,990 high schools nationwide.
Courting Federal Funds and Corporate Sponsorships
Given President Clinton's technology literacy charge to have all schools wired by the year 2,000, this program couldn't be more well-timed, according to Eubanks, who is looking to fund STEP primarily through federal funds. In addition to CADCA's massive distribution arm that will link STEP with more than 4,000 community coalition members, national federal programs like "Schools to Career" and "Safe and Drug Free Schools" can also allow prime cross-marketing opportunities for STEP to access schools and educators on the state level.
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Site Highlights
Expected to launch this Fall, STEP will offer:
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Eubanks is also courting a number of corporations that target youths for exclusive sponsorship opportunities. As one of the more compelling retail marketing components of the program, students who successfully complete the substance abuse prevention online training seminars will receive STEP discount cards that will allow them to enjoy attractive product discounts from participating corporate sponsors. Retail partnerships with companies in the automotive, clothing, entertainment and restaurant industries will be pursued. These discount cards offer powerful marketing incentive to sponsors because they will have direct access to teens during their key branding years when brand loyalty is first established, according to Eubanks.
To become fully operational, the program has to first work around the fact that only 17 percent of schools are "wired" or Web-active. This presents some incredible challenges from an obvious technological standpoint as well as a training perspective. For schools that aren't wired, the program will have to allay many teachers' fears affiliated with stumbling on inappropriate Internet sites, from pornography to pro-drug information. "Many teachers are afraid to have kids using the Internet under their watch because of all the sex and drugs they can easily access," said Eubanks.
To work around this, Prosoft will show these schools how the Internet can be a useful educational tool when effectively monitored. Using a mobile (intranet) server, Profnet will conduct 90-minute training sessions to these schools and make available its 38 training facilities throughout the country.
For CADCA, the STEP partnership provides a targeted interactive vehicle for many of their teen-based anti-drug efforts, like its National Youth Leadership Academy, and increases its visibility on the Internet, in schools and communities, according to Cooney. "We don't expect [STEP] to be the silver bullet for teen drug abuse, but it can de-normalize it and challenge teens to develop healthy skills to change their environment and ultimately become young anti-drug community activists," said Cooney.
(CADCA, 800/542-2322; STEP, 619/551-0509; Prosoft, 888/522-1530)