I am happy to post the first in a series blog posts focusing on successful health marketing campaigns using multiple communications disciplines and media channels. If you have a campaign we should highlight, let us know.
The Truth campaign is one of the largest national anti-tobacco campaigns targeting youth in the history of public health campaigns. Due to its successful outcomes in reducing smoking rates, it is a common example in best practices for multidisciplinary campaigns.
David and Goliath Problem –Tiny public health marketing budgets versus $11 billion tobacco marketing budget.
The public health community knew that if they were going to compete with the world-class tobacco marketers, help from a successful marketing firm was needed. With Master Tobacco Settlement funds in 2000, Arnold Worldwide partnered with Crispin, Porter & Bogusky to launch the Truth campaign.
After intensive market research, Arnold concluded that potential young smokers were often “sensation-seekers” with rebellious qualities. According to Arnold, youth “index high on things like ‘daydreaming about ways to get even’ or ‘standing up to adults’ or ‘breaking the rules.’ Just-Say-No communication strategy to this group is the last thing that will work.”
From this information, they branded the truth campaign under the theme of exposing Big Tobacco, rather than focusing on facts about tobacco and health. To do this, Arnold designed a combination to television, radio and print ads. They developed interactive websites and Truth Tours for grassroots-level marketing.
The campaign results were remarkable. Three-quarters of teenagers can describe a truth ad and 90-percent said they were convinced. Results indicate a 17.9-percent decline in national smoking rates among high school students.
The success of the campaign really speaks for itself. The majority of the health marking community has likely studied this campaign, but it still remains at the fore-front of my mind when I think of the power of health marketing.
I was actually a member of the target audience for this campaign and remember attending a Truth tour with my high school health class. When I moved away to college, I finally threw away all the stickers and mementos I collected from the event. Remembering back to my choice to attend public health graduate school, I often think back to this event and reconfirm my choice.
Funding is roadblock for implementing similar multidisciplinary campaigns, but talent in our field surely is not. If we practice in surround sound, we can achieve these results time and time again.
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