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Volume 2: No. 2, April 2005
SPECIAL TOPICS
ORIGINAL RESEARCH: FEATURED
ABSTRACT FROM THE 19TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHRONIC DISEASE
PREVENTION AND CONTROL
VERB™ Campaign: Extending the Reach of a
National Campaign to Ethnically Diverse Audiences
Rosemary Bretthauer-Mueller, Heidi Melancon
Suggested citation for this article: Bretthauer-Mueller
R, Melancon H. VERB™ campaign: extending the reach of a
national campaign to ethnically diverse audiences [abstract]. Prev Chronic Dis
[serial online] 2005
Apr [date cited]. Available from: URL: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2005/
apr/04_0142h.htm.
PEER REVIEWED
Track: Communications and Technology
The objective of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s (CDC's) “VERB. It’s what you
do.” campaign is to increase and maintain physical activity
among “tweens,” or children aged nine to 13 years.
VERB™, a national social marketing campaign with ethnic market
overlays, reaches all tweens across the nation with messages designed to get them
up and moving. To ensure that all segments of the multicultural
audiences are reached by the campaign, the CDC worked with four
multicultural advertising/marketing agencies to supplement and
complement the general market communication with culturally
relevant messages and executions through appropriate channels.
The campaign’s efforts extend an
invitation to Native American, African American, Asian American,
and Hispanic/Latino tweens to take part in the VERB campaign. These culturally and linguistically relevant
efforts also help to fill in the gaps inherent in general market
communication channels that reach tweens in addition to those
that reach parents and other adult influencers. The VERB
executions expand campaign messages, reach, impact, and
effectiveness.
To reach ethnic audiences, the four multicultural agencies
have produced a marketing mix that includes television, radio,
out-of-home, and print advertising; in-school promotions; viral
marketing; events; and public relations. As is the standard for
the VERB campaign, these products were developed on the basis of
extensive formative and message-testing research. The culturally
relevant products are also strongly rooted in the VERB brand
strategy to maintain synergy with the general market efforts,
which is critical to a seamless campaign.
The campaign’s national longitudinal evaluation
indicates that 63% of African American tweens and 70% of
Hispanic/Latino tweens are aware of the VERB brand, exceeding the
campaign’s goal of 50% awareness. A special survey was
administered in-language with Asian language-speaking parents of
tweens living in the Los Angeles area. The results indicate that
the parents surveyed were more aware of VERB than any other
parental ethnic group.
Corresponding Author: Rosemary Bretthauer-Mueller, VERB
Partnership Team Leader, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion, Division of Adolescent and School Health, 4770
Buford Hwy NE, Mail Stop K-85, Atlanta, GA 30341. Telephone:
770-488-6289. E-mail: RBretthauer-Mueller@cdc.gov.
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