In 2001 – 2006 CDC ran an excellent campaign to get 9-13 year old kids to be more active. The campaign combined paid advertising, marketing strategies, and partnership efforts to reach the kids. Other important audiences were parents and adult influencers, including teachers, youth leaders, physical education and health professionals, pediatricians, health care providers, coaches, and others. You can find a huge amount of info about the campaign on http://www.cdc.gov/youthcampaign/index.htm. This includes many reports on formative research which can prove relevant for other campaigns too.
In the June 2008 special issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine the entire campaign is evaluated and the results are impressive. Click here to read the special issue. Or go directly to the articles of your choice:
- It’s what you do! Reflections on the VERB™ campaign.
- The VERB™ campaign: applying a branding strategy in public health.
- Bringing “play” to life: the use of experiential marketing in the VERB™ campaign.
- The VERB™ campaign’s strategy for reaching African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian children and parents.
- Catalyzing community action within a national campaign: VERB™ community and national partnerships.
- Overview of formative, process, and outcome evaluation methods used in the VERB™ campaign.
- Methodology of the outcome evaluation of the VERB™ campaign.
- Initial outcomes of the VERB™ campaign: tweens’ awareness and understanding of campaign messages.
- Testing a hierarchy-of-effects model: pathways from awareness to outcomes in the VERB™ campaign 2002-2003.
- Did augmenting the VERB™ campaign advertising in select communities have an effect on awareness, attitudes, and physical activity?
- Influencing the parents of children aged 9–13 years: findings from the VERB™ campaign.