Case Study: Building an Online Youth Tobacco Control Movement

The Client
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Tobacco Control Program

The Public Health Challenge
To positively affect attitudes and social behaviors regarding tobacco use among Massachusetts youth by promoting and celebrating alternative, healthy lifestyles and activities.

The Strategy
Health Resource in Action's Health Communication Services worked in partnership with its Training and Capacity Building Department to develop the campaign message and brand, as well as the campaign's central product, the peer-to-peer website (www.the84.org). The campaign aims to promote the social norm that most young people are not using tobacco, and focus on the alternate, positive activities young people engage in. Formative research found that teenagers are explicitly aware of the health-related dangers of tobacco use, yet some continue to use tobacco products. This reality presented a key opportunity to reposition the anti-tobacco advocacy dialogue from a traditional health awareness campaign to a "choice campaign" that resonates with teenagers. The campaign features a community building website that reflects a youth driven voice and user generated functionalities such as forums, user profiles, and a special-interest blog. "Offline" activities such as visibility events in schools and a Digital Media Festival serve to promote the 84 brand, attract more visitors to the website and help young people affiliate with the 84 mission and goals.

The Impact
Since its beginning in 2007, over 700,000 young people throughout Massachusetts have been involved with the84.org through online and offline activities including school-based visibility mini-grant campaigns, a Digital Media Contest and Awards Festival, social networking via MySpace and YouTube, and other peer-to-peer activities. The 84 movement has grown year to year, with more young people affiliating themselves with the 84 and becoming advocates for healthy, tobacco-free communities.

The HRIA Advantage
Health Communication Services applied its expertise in public health brand development to this youth-led movement and interactive website as the central feature. Expertise in the youth audience, campaign development and strategic web and social media usage created a branded youth movement aimed at promoting a new social norm - that of young people engaged in healthy, creative activities rather than tobacco usage and as leaders for healthy schools and communities. HRIA's longtime work in youth development and understanding of youth media usage and trends was integral to the successful implementation of this ongoing campaign.