2009 Platinum PR Awards: Multicultural Campaign—IQ Solutions & NIDA

After the Party Campaign

“After the Party,” a campaign executed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and IQ Solutions, sought to increase awareness among Hispanic youth around the relationship between non-injection drug use, compromised sexual decision-making and HIV transmission. Launched in September 2007 in connection with Hispanic Heritage Month, NIDA and IQ execs used traditional and innovative approaches to promote the campaign, including:

• PSA and collateral materials that were culturally and linguistically appropriate for Hispanic teens;

• A partnership with AIDS.gov; and,

• Cutting-edge webisodes running as Flash vignettes that expanded upon the storylines of characters from the “After the Party” PSA.

As of March 2009, the PSA had earned nearly 22,000 airplays and more than 236 million media impressions. Through the partnership with AIDS.gov, the team also had the opportunity to showcase the “After the Party” campaign materials in a 3-D resource center in the Second Life virtual world for World AIDS Day 2008. ■

Honorable Mentions:

Weber Shandwick: Honeywell Initiative for Returning Engineers (HIRE)—Since only 13% of U.S. engineers are women, Honeywell set out to attract highly qualified women engineers through HIRE—a program designed to help these women make a seamless transition back into the workforce.

Susan G. Komen: Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s Circle of Promise Campaign—Breast cancer disproportionately impacts the African-American community, so Susan G. Komen raised awareness through its “Circle of Promise” campaign, targeting women’s interest sites, conducting a radio media tour and highlighting survivor stories throughout several press outlets.

IMAGES USA & Amtrak: Pullman Porters Tribute—IMAGES USA helped Amtrak appeal to African-American consumers by highlighting the contributions of the men who served as Pullman Porters throughout the 20th century—an effort that garnered nearly 315 million media impressions.

REVOLUCION & HBO Latino: HBO Latino Breaks Out—The team secured coast-to-coast coverage of the new HBO Latino series Capadocia by establishing partnerships with People en Español and CoverGirl, generating 45 million media impressions.

Porter Novelli & Valley CAN: Valley CAN Tune In and Tune Up—Porter Novelli helped Valley CAN execute a free vehicle emissions cleanup program in California’s San Joaquin Valley that saw significant participation from community members who were not fluent in English.

Yum Brands/Career Sports & Entertainment: 2008 Kentucky Fried Chicken Pride 360—The Pride 360 initiative successfully encouraged members of the African-American community to succeed and achieve by upholding four pillars: family, community, individuality and heritage.

October 26, 2009