The PSI BCC Blog

The Love Test: It's Nothing to Be Scared Of

HIV testing campaigns often rely on a particularly strong emotion to motivate testing -- fear. The new PSI/Swaziland campaign also uses emotion to urge HIV testing. But the campaign bucks traditional fear appeals and instead employs a contrasting sentiment -- love. 

The “Love Test” campaign targets couples, urging them to show their love for each other and test together. The initiative has been widely covered (click here to check out coverage on CNN) and is making an impact in Swaziland. Since the “Love Test” campaign was introduced in April 2009, the number of couples testing has more than tripled, and overall testing has increased by 400% over the previous year.

The campaign also targets men specifically, reaching out to them in places where they congregate. The “Love Test” is even present at the ‘dipping tanks’ where men gather to disinfect their livestock. For more information on Swaziland’s “Love Test,” check out this video on youtube.

 

 

Guest blogger Beth Skorochod is a consultant in the HIV Department.

The Unkindest Cut

BCC around female genital cutting (FGC) has historically been limited. Little new communication work has been done in the last 10 to15 years. What communication there is in this area tends to rely heavily upon fear-based messaging and images, and is often small-scale or limited to a single channel.

But two PSI platforms, PSI/Mali and PSI/Guinea, are working hard to address FGC using new approaches that incorporate public opinion leaders, community mobilization and advocacy. While these approaches target women, they place equal emphasis on community leaders and influencers that can help sway public opinion on the practice.

 

PSI/Mali is currently implementing a multi-channel mass media campaign against FGC, the third of its kind in the country. PSI’s earlier campaigns addressed the belief that FGC is a religiously sanctioned practice and highlighted the consequences of cutting. This latest effort will focus largely upon the value of non-excised women – a group that is widely believed to be sexually insatiable and otherwise immoral in Malian society. The current campaign focuses largely upon radio and TV spots, with supporting print media. Mass media activities are complemented by small-scale advocacy activities targeting religious leaders, including provision of cassette recordings of a well-known imam speaking about the (lack of) relationship between Islam and FGC. PSI/Mali has also developed an IPC toolkit to help health workers reach rural audiences with FGC messages in greater depth. This is no small feat in a country in which more than 90% of women of reproductive age are excised, many religious leaders support the practice, and political forces are often reluctant to oppose religious tenet (Download Mali's baseline study report. NOTE: The report is in French).

 

PSI/Guinea is also working to address FGC. With rates of FGC similar to those in Mali, and the absence of a law to prohibit the practice, PSI/Guinea uses a mix of radio and television spots, as well as interpersonal communication to initiate discussion with influential community leaders. In 2008, nearly 1,000 leaders benefited from information on the negative impact of FGC through workshops, education sessions and round table discussions. The program hopes to expand through the year 2011, and reach out to community leaders and medical professionals, as well as women 18 to 35.

 

So what seems to work, when tackling this complex issue?

• Strong collaboration with public sector partners charged with addressing FGC – in the case of Mali, the Ministry of Promotion of Women, Children, and Families.
• Advocacy and community mobilization – especially highly visible events – with local actors in the forefront.
• Always having a contingency plan!

Although PSI’s work in this area has yet to be evaluated (results of an endline survey are expected within the next few months), anecdotal evidence suggests that the campaigns have contributed to a shift in attitudes, as evidenced by greater openness in discussing FGC.

 

Visit this link for a summary of strategies used to end FGC and a brief discussion of projects in four countries Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, and Uganda. Click here for a collection of data and research on FGC, as well as information on the various approaches used by organizations around the world working to eliminate the practice.

The Art of Building Internal Buzz

Ever hear of “invertising?” Me neither, until I stumbled across it when reading about how the big boys of advertising (Pepsi, Coke, Nike and the like) make it a priority. (Check out this link to read about Pepsi’s latest, large-scale invertising effort). Invertising is just a fancy name for something we should all be doing anyway -- marketing our campaigns to our own internal audience, our staff.  

 

Successful companies take invertising seriously, and here’s why: Employees are critical to the success of a new campaign. Behavior change campaigns are no different. Ask yourself just a few questions to see if you agree.

• If you want to seize every opportunity to get your message out there, doesn’t it make sense to have your own staff stand behind your messages?

• Won’t staff help you reach your target audience? Many staffers will fit the profile of the audience you seek. Even if they don’t, they most likely know, speak with or are related to, people who do.

• If employees believe in your campaign, won’t they help support it and get the word out?

Unveiling your campaign to employees should be a priority. The way the bigwigs at Pepsi describe it, if employees see a new television spot or hear about the campaign second hand, they are likely to feel slighted. And no one likes to feel slighted. Giving employees a sneak peek before the rest of the world recognizes their efforts in supporting the work of the organization, and helps them feel like a part of the team. If employees feel included, they will work hard to help make sure the campaign is successful. You can create this internal buzz by hanging banners and posters in the office, printing up snazzy t-shirts and caps for staff, or simply calling a meeting to reveal your new messages. However you do it, it’s important that all employees feel vested in the campaign. The cleaning staff and the CEO are equally important here and both deserve to be a priority.

 

Guest blogger Beth Skorochod is a consultant in the HIV Department.

Stale Milk

Consistency is a virtue in the world of BCC. Consistent communication and clear messages are vital to motivating a change in behavior.

But even the most consistent campaigns need to shake things up every now and then. After 16 years of featuring famous faces with milk moustaches, the “Got Milk?” campaign is taking a new tack to tout the virtues of drinking milk.

 

A downloadable “advergame” hopes to dazzle teens with music, video and manual dexterity, all the while espousing the benefits of drinking the wonder tonic. The California Milk Processor Board, the originator of the “Got Milk?” campaign, is hoping the cool factor of the game and its accompanying music video will rub off on milk. The video stars the campaign’s fictitious rocker, White Gold.

 

The iconic “Got Milk?” campaign has snagged dozens of advertising awards and increased milk sales in the U.S.after a 20-year slump. It also boasts more than 90% awareness in America. So, why the change after so much history and so much success? According to the campaign, milk wanted to reach out to teenagers. While teens have always been a part of the target audience, the campaign wanted to specifically target teens through a new media channel. Campaign research showed that internet games were the best way to reach out to teens and get their attention. The famous “Got Milk?” moustaches will remain, but the White Gold video game will seek out a new audience of teenagers who respond to computers, cell phones and video games.

 

While we all dream of 90% saturation for our own campaigns, the lesson here is that even the most successful communication needs refreshing. Staying relevant to your audience is vital, even if it means revamping a campaign that’s been successful in the past. The key is to balance the strategic reasons for tweaking a campaign and the value of consistency. In this case, the iconic campaign wasn’t scrapped, just shifted to a new media strategy and channel that will connect with a new target audience.  Perhaps adding a new channel is all you need to stay relevant with your audience.

 

Follow this link or this one, to see some examples of other online gaming for health.

 

Beth Skorochod is a consultant in the HIV department.

Playing to 40 Million

Art imitates life in the recent film release, “Never Abandon, Never Give Up!” In partnership with the International Labor Organization (ILO), Mega-info Media, the company that runs China’s national railway station television network, launched a short, black and white film aimed at reducing HIV stigma and promoting condom use among the nation’s internal migrant workers. One of the film’s stars, Zhang Xiao Hu, is himself a migrant worker living with HIV. Hu was the nation’s first migrant worker to speak publicly about his HIV status.

 

The film is part of a larger, multi-channel BCC program targeting migrant workers across China. Sponsored by the ILO, China’s Ministry of Labour and the China State Council AIDS Working Committee Organization, the campaign, “Hometown Fellows,” is a collaboration with 19 large-scale companies in the construction, mining and transport sectors in China’s provinces most impacted by HIV. The film, which addresses high HIV-related stigma and low condom use among migrants, will be screened over a three month period in national railways stations in 450 cities. It is likely to be seen by 40 million people.

 

The Hometown Fellows campaign taps into powerful social networks among migrant workers who often move together from rural areas to work in large cities throughout China. These workers share a strong social bond based on their common provincial origin. Campaign channels, including the film, radio spots and peer education in the workplace, all deliver key messages through migrant voices.

 

Check out the Charlie-Chaplin style short here.