Summary 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. The National Prevention Media Initiative was intended to support community efforts by creating a national dialog around unhealthy behavior norms, the influence of the nutrition and physical activity environments on people’s ability to practice healthy behaviors, and how people in communities can work together to effect changes that make healthy living easier. The original objectives of the National Prevention Media Initiative included: • Develop and implement a national strategy, a national brand, and campaign materials to promote healthy behaviors and positive environmental changes. • Produce effective and hard-hitting prevention and wellness messages to complement and reinforce community activities. • Provide communities access to high-quality expertise in paid, earned, and social media to assist in achieving measurable health outcomes locally. Panelists will take the audience from that lofty beginning through the hard realities of fielding such a campaign. They will share the difficult process of identifying a common audience and developing a consistent voice to serve 50 communities with highly diverse populations and local action plans. They will describe how the Initiative evolved and adapted based on community needs and consumer input. They will present an overview of the formative research, creative concepts, local media selection and placement, earned and social media support, and evaluation planning. Session Objectives: 1. Discuss the considerations and pitfalls that impact media strategy and implementation. 2. Present ways to overcome obstacles and barriers. 3. Describe lessons learned and how they can be adapted and applied to other media initiatives, large and small.