This post is part of a blog series focusing on successful health marketing campaigns using multiple communications disciplines and media channels. If you have a campaign we should highlight, let us know.
In previous blog posts, I’ve highlighted several successful domestic health marketing campaigns. Now I want to turn your attention to some interesting international campaigns.
The Love Life Generation is a South African campaign to reduce HIV rates. The campaign targets youth with upbeat messages about loving yourself and developing a sense of purpose and belongingness. This is a sharp contrast to many of the HIV/AIDS campaigns which highlight scary statistics and dreadful messages.
Another HIV campaign with the same positive tone is the Live up! Caribbean campaign. Launched in March 2007, this is the Caribbean’s first media-led campaign on HIV/AIDS. The campaign follows the tagline Love.Protect.Respect. to encourage mutual respect between partners and inspire people to get tested.
Why I love campaigns.
Both campaigns are holistic and positive. They focus on the core values of belongingness, sexiness and happiness, not health. Remember the pepsi ad I discussed in a previous blog? The ad uses the same upbeat and positive tone to promote pepsi through its “forever young” campaign. If Pepsi can sell their colored sugar water, we can sell health. We just need to package it in a way that people want to buy it.
It is great to see public health campaigns using successful examples from commercial marketing. Campaigns likes these are another reminder of how health marketing and communications professionals can work together to package and sell healthy lives.
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Hi – My name is Trina DasGupta, and I’m the Media Director at loveLife. Thanks for the positive post! As you’ve noted, in order to truly address the HIV epidemic, we (as behaviour change communicators) have to look at the underlying social determinants of the epidemic, as well as the psycho-social issues behind them and package all of this in a way that young people (our target market) will respond to. We’d love to share more information about our campaign, as well as learn from your expertise. Thanks again!