While the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade last month was surrounded by violence at several abortion clinics nationwide, pro-choice marketers have not backed down under pressure. Instead, they have steadily increased their patient education campaigns.
While many contend that because of abortion's inherent political undercurrents it would be risky for clinics dealing with such sensitive issues to trumpet their services from the rooftops. But there are signs that they are becoming more willing to experiment with the different kinds of media, said Patty Brous, president of Planned Parenthood of Mid-Missouri and Eastern Kansas.
Historically, family planning clinics have long maintained a discreet advertising presence in the classified sections at the back of women's magazines and in the Yellow Pages. Now, some are reaching outside of its conservative past by advertising in newspapers and national magazines.
However, while Planned Parenthood is using other media channels outside of the Yellow Pages, Brous said it has avoided controversy by touting the educational offerings, rather than the marketing of its termination services. Advertisements in local newspapers highlight inexpensive checkups for general health and for testing of testicular cancer or sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
"We are actually trying to prevent the need for abortion through education and family planning," Brous said. "Therefore our efforts are received in a different light."
Thanks to their educational efforts, for example, last year, out of 37,000 female medical patients who came to clinics in Kansas City and Columbia, they referred 567 for adoption, more than 8,000 for prenatal care and performed 2,600 abortions - only 7 percent of the patients they saw.
Brous's office annually serves more than 40,000 medical patients -women and men - in 10 centers in the Midwest. And 38,000 more clients participate in education courses sponsored by Planned Parenthood in community and detention centers, churches and schools.
While Brous admits that many times it is difficult to find newspapers willing to give it advertising space, sponsoring educational events circumvents the problem. Brous said most newspapers set aside a certain amount of money towards PSAs and contacting ad staff early --at least a month in advance --is key for snagging space.
"You have to explain that you want to educate the public on all aspects of family planning," she said. "It is not always easy to do."
Brous said her PR and marketing staff spends most of its time in media relations -- dealing with reporters' inquiries, sending out press releases and holding press conferences about its educational programs. "We have to use more covert ways to get our messages across," she said.
By distancing itself from the controversial issues of abortion, the centers have been able to achieve more media coverage for its other services such as gynecological services and family planning. "Planned Parenthood is meant to keep women healthy," said Brous.
Getting Word Out Online
In order to help market smaller, regional abortion clinics across the country, abortion marketing veteran Ann Rose created Abortions Online at http://www.gynpages.com. Rose, a pioneer in abortion marketing, caused a sensation n 1976 when she created one of the first abortion television ads for Midtown Hospital in Atlanta.
Her site promotes more than 100 clinics and many doctors claim receiving 2 to 5 patients from the site each month. The cost for a site listing is $500 a year.
"Unlike the Yellow Pages, this site allows you to provide pages and pages of patient educational information," said Rose.
Abortion providers are listed by state and city and clicking on the homepage gives detailed information about procedures, patient instructions, consent forms, prices, maps and other educational information.
While the site receives hundreds of hits per day, the response has not been all positive, Rose has been flamed and spammed by anonymous browsers a few times. However, Rose shruggs it off as "just part of the territory".
Rose said that while the Internet is her favorite marketing medium for abortion clinics, direct mail also works.
"If I were advising a clinic today --I would first put them on the Internet, then furiously direct mail gynecologists and physicians and then hire someone to hand out promotional and educational materials to staff at doctor's offices," she said.
Because most clinics are 2-to 10-person operations, television or radio ads are not very cost-effective, said Rose.
Europeans Lead The Way With Magazine Ads
Family planning clinics in many European countries are a few steps ahead of most of their American counterparts, as far as openly advertising their services.
French family planning clinic, Marie Stopes, which has 23 centers in Europe, and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), with eight clinics and 30 consultation centers in England, are two major private service abortion providers that have undertaken their first radio campaigns.
In April the BPAS rolled out a radio campaign to tie in with a poster campaign in health centers, health clubs and libraries with its agency, the Parade Group.
"It was a brand-building exercise designed to make clients aware of our services," said Bryce Chaplin, a spokesman.
Marie Stopes, which sees over 23,000 women a year, has recently completed a series of ads on Kiss FM, a London radio station designed to convey its freephone helpline number to younger women who may not read the publications that it traditionally advertises in.
BPAS has also advertised in the men's magazines GQ and Esquire. The ads depict a woman and her boyfriend discussing her missed period with a headline that reads "Get The Facts."
"We recognize the fact that men are part of the decision-making process and may instigate that process initially," said Chaplin. "Not all women come direct to us. Many go to their doctor first who will refer them [to us]."
Marie Stopes regularly sends its brochure and referral information to every primary care physician facility in the U.K and France and does smaller mailings throughout the year. BPAS ties in its mailings with news items such as changes in the abortion law, while the abortion issue is less of a political issue in most of Europe --a strong religious sentiment affects marketers.
"While advertising is becoming more acceptable, we try not to rattle any cages," said Julie Douglas, Marie Stopes marketing manager in Paris. Aswell as using women's magazines, the non-profit has posters on the London Underground system and places ads in the local press. "It is very important for us to have our number available so we do a lot of direct response advertising."
"When we open a new center, we make a splash in the local newspaper with a big ad and then we carry on advertising that centre in smaller ads in the paper," said Douglas. (Planned Parenthood, 212/541-7800, BPAS 44-171-908-7890, Abortion Online 770/552-6591)