There's Always a Silver Lining: Challenges and Opportunities of Turning a National Campaign Into a Local Initiative

Author:Amanda Dudley, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Atlanta, Georgia Co-Authors: Shelley Whiddon, FHI 360 Todd Phillips, FHI 360 Kendra Mazey, CE TITLE:  There’s always a silver lining: Challenges and opportunities of turning a national campaign into a local initiative   

Background: CDC's Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative funded 61 programs in 50 communities to reduce chronic disease related to obesity and tobacco. Through evidence-based strategies, CPPW communities worked to improve access to healthy food, increase opportunities for physical activity, and reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. These efforts are expected to produce broad, sustainable health outcomes through environmental-change strategies.

Program background:To support its landmark Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) initiative, CDC awarded a $30-million contract to a national media agency in 2010 to create and implement an integrated national campaign featuring paid, earned, and social media. The goal of the campaign was to support the work of the CPPW communities by educating people about the importance of making positive changes to the environments in which they live, work, and play to make it easier to live healthier lives—especially for residents who bear the greatest burden of chronic disease. Due to unforeseen challenges, the national media campaign was redirected to a local media initiative. This transition affected the role of advertising, earned media, social media, and the campaign website that served as the call-to-action. In addition, efforts to build an identifiable national brand were suspended in favor of local branding. This presentation will describe the challenges and opportunities in executing this “extreme campaign makeover.” Among the challenges we encountered were how to distribute funds for local media buys and how to produce advertisements that would meet the varied needs of the 50 communities—while also supporting the campaign’s overall objective to educate the public and stakeholders about the role of environmental health factors in obesity prevention and tobacco control. This change in strategy also presented real opportunities. CPPW communities varied greatly in population size and demographics, program objectives, and media needs and timetables. By tailoring the campaign to meet the specific objectives of each community, we were able to deliver focused, localized support for all CPPW grantees. Providing dedicated technical assistance to the communities helped build their internal media capacity and maximize the impact of their local campaigns.

Evaluation Methods and Results:Evaluation Methods and Results:To determine viability and credibilty of CPPW ads in local communities, focus group testing and internet testing was applied. Communities also tested already created ads to determine if they were applicable to their local audiences and usable within their communities.

Conclusions:Notwithstanding the cost and efficiency advantages of a national campaign, there are numerous advantages to locally led efforts. By being flexible and creative in its approach, the CPPW media initiative was able to successfully adapt and evolve based on local community needs.

Implications for research and/or practice:By tailoring the campaign to meet the specific objectives of each community, we were able to deliver focused, localized support for all CPPW grantees.