Elmo's got the blues; he has an earache and a fever and must go to the doctor. Oh, he's got the low-down, first-trip-to-the-doctor blues. With help from friends like Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, Elmo eventually learns that the doctor isn't as scary as he thought and can give him medication to make him feel better.
When parents pop this video into their VCR, they'll get a classic Sesame Street approach to helping their children cope with first visits to the doctor while learning the importance of taking medication properly.
This video campaign is part of a multimedia initiative, underwritten by Pfizer, that demonstrates how a children's program and a healthcare organization can partner to deliver credible, relevant healthcare messages.
The initiative, "Sesame Street Goes to the Doctor," launched in October, targets parents, children and healthcare providers. It is one of the Children's Television Workshop's (CTW) most aggressive healthcare outreach efforts, using several communication components, including magazine, video, online banners and childcare guides.
So far, the media kit has been sent to 50,000 healthcare providers nationwide and more than 5,000 parents will be awarded the video via an online sweepstakes contest on Pfizer's Web site, http://www.kidsears.com. The Web site targets parents with information on childhood hearing, language development and ear infections.
For Pfizer, the partnership is a compelling way to reach parents with key antibiotic compliance messages that focus on taking medication to completion and emphasizing its use for viral infections, says Pat Kelly, Pfizer's SVP of marketing. Clarifying the effective use of antibiotics is a top priority for Pfizer, which manufacturers drugs for common children's infections and allergies.
Elmo Allays Children's Fears
Pfizer and Sesame Street began working together on the outreach initiative in 1998 by developing an advisory board comprised of physicians and early childhood experts.
The challenge involved diluting difficult healthcare information into messages that would be compelling for children and relevant for parents, says Kelly Kingham, CTW's assistant VP of development. The video achieves this by using Elmo's popular character to focus on a few key themes, like the importance of children telling adults when they're sick and how doctors can help sick children feel better. These messages are repeated throughout the 20-minute program.
For parents and healthcare providers, the video is just one component of the overall educational effort, which also includes the Pfizer Web site, a customized Sesame Street Parents magazine, a poster and a childcare guide.
In addition to helping parents cope with their children's first doctor visits, the educational materials also educate about:
- children's symptoms that warrant physician attention.
- cheering up a sick child.
- antibiotic dos and don't's.
CTW's researchers and producers took the lead on developing the campaign's educational strategies and messages because of the extensive use of Sesame Street characters. It was also critical that the campaign be perceived as a public health effort and not a Pfizer infomercial, says Kingham.
Trusted Association
Conceding creative control to CTW was a small price to pay for a Sesame Street-endorsed healthcare campaign that promoted antibiotic compliance. "Children, parents and caregivers love and trust the Muppets and Sesame Street and pay attention to the positive messages they offer," says Kelly.
In promoting the partnership to the media, however, it was important for both organizations to position the effort as a joint initiative, says Kingham. To this end, the press releases include CTW and Pfizer press contacts and quote each organizations' spokespeople equally.
So far the partnership has generated coverage in general-interest media outlets, like the Los Angeles Times, Fox News and CBS radio stations as well as national business publications like Ad Age and Brand Week.
The video news release has reached more than a million viewers and the audio news release has reached more than 900,000 listeners.
More than likely the campaign will grow into a multi-year partnership that will educate about other child health areas and involve sponsored sections on Sesame Street's Web site, (http://www.ctw.org) which generates 10 million page views a day, says Kingham.
(CTW, Kelly Kingham, 212/875-6459; Pfizer, Pat Kelly, 212/733-37840)
The ABC's of Developing Children's Health Messages
To develop messages that resonate with children, healthcare communicators should explore partnering with a well-known and trusted community organization that targets youth. Ideal outreach tactics include:
- Developing messages that include a familiar and well-liked character, image or person.
- Simplifying healthcare messages into a few key child-friendly themes that can be repeated.
- Testing your messages on children and parents before launching a campaign.
- Using key educational vehicles like videos, Web sites, posters, brochures, guides, etc.