Campaign: truth youth smoking prevention campaign
Winner: American Legacy Foundation & ad*itive
The 2006-2007 year was a banner one for the truth campaign, an initiative launched eight years ago by the American Legacy Foundation to deter kids from smoking. It was the time
to combat "message fatigue" among an audience that is traditionally hard to reach. Plus, the truth team faced an even bigger challenge: The tobacco industry spends an estimated
$36 million a day on marketing - a number that far exceeds truth's annual marketing budget. Diluting the impact of this constant bombardment would be essential
The team took a close look at its audience's preferred consumption channels, and it invaded these with the "truth." From magazines to television to branded Web sites, truth's
marketing was ubiquitous and hard-hitting.
Beyond Advertising
Traditional marketing materials infiltrated various communications platforms, but the team also kicked off a truth Orange Summer Tour, a grassroots event that reaches kids at
popular summer activities, including widely attended concerts. But no teen-oriented campaign would be complete without a viral component, so the truth team logged on to popular
social networking sites.
"Editorial is still vital to delivering the message, but the fact that teens' attention is so fragmented provides opportunities to integrate the truth campaign by speaking
directly to teens on their mobile phones, through the Internet via social networking sites," says Patricia McLaughlin, senior director of communications, American Legacy
Foundation. "With limited funding, we have used these new tools to ensure maximum exposure."
Kicking Butts
Since September 2006, truth's social networking presence has compiled an impressive list of 43,500 "friends." Most significant is these statistics: Focus groups reveal that 83%
of the target audience said the ads grabbed their attention, and 76% said they "provided good reasons not to smoke."
Honorable Mentions
BlueCurrent Public Relations: United Cerebral Palsy Elvis Run--To raise awareness for its Elvis Run 5k event, United Cerebral Palsy of Greater DFW and BlueCurrent PR researched
and released a sheet of Elvis facts to build hype. By tying their marketing efforts to the theme (such as placing cut-outs to represent Elvis sightings), they were able to
generate a huge amount of publicity.
YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network: Central Park Challenge--To help people understand disabilities, and to attract more people to their Central Park
Challenge, YAI/NIPDN simplified their message and utilized internet and other venues they hadn't previously to get their message out to as large an audience as possible.
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption: Make the List!--The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption sought to increase awareness about adoption in workplaces, so they created the top
100 list for the most adoption-friendly workplaces. By giving companies good publicity for showing how important adoption is to them, they were able to get the message into a
diverse selection of venues.