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SITUATION
As is true across America, HIV/AIDS is having a disproportionate impact on women in New Jersey, especially African-American women. One in every three people living with HIV/AIDS in the state is a woman. Sixty-three percent of these women are African American, while only 7 percent are white and 18 percent are Hispanic. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) tasked GMMB to create and execute a multi-media paid advertising campaign to encourage African-American women to seek out information and get tested for HIV/AIDS.

APPROACH
Based on research conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and consultations with DHSS policy experts, we developed a $2 million comprehensive media campaign called “Know You’re Negative.” We used the research findings to develop a specific demographic profile of the target audience, determine which media outlets to use, and tailor our messaging and creative development strategy.

Based on the research, we determined that our target audience was low-income, heterosexual, African-American women between the ages of 18 and 34. We then developed a communications campaign that included two 30-second television spots, one 60-second radio spot, and a series of outdoor advertisements. We created messages that focused on “family” (“Protect yourself because HIV affects your family too.”) and “empowerment” (“Take charge of your relationships with men because you have the power to protect yourself.”)  Each ad encouraged its audience to call an easy-to-remember toll-free number: 1-866-HIV-CHECK.

Research was also used to develop the media placement strategy. Strategic placements were essential so that the client could leverage its limited funds to maximize its impact in the highly competitive and expensive markets of New York City and Philadelphia. Utilizing Scarborough and Arbitron data, we chose programming that appealed to our target audience. Using census data, we tracked low-income communities by zip codes, and located the counties with the highest percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Outdoor advertising included the interiors of buses, bus shelters and the interiors of New Jersey Path trains. Television ads were placed on broadcast television and Black Entertainment Television statewide, and radio ads were placed on major radio stations. In order to develop the most cost-effective buy for the client, we placed the buy well in advance of the airdate in order to take advantage of large inventory and lower unit rates. We also negotiated aggressivelywith stations for the lowest possible price.

RESULTS
Within only four months, the client saw dramatic results:

  • There was a 139 percent increase in calls to the hotline compared to the same period a year earlier.
  • Callers were significantly younger than the previous year, with 72 percent being between the ages of 15 and 44, compared to 54 percent during the same period a year earlier.
  • Seventy-three percent of callers identified themselves as heterosexual, compared to 57 percent during the same period a year earlier.
  • Seventy-six percent of callers requested testing and 19 percent requested information, compared to 35 percent of callers requesting testing and 65 percent requesting information during the same period a year earlier.
  • Forty-nine percent of calls were from women and 41 percent were from men, compared to 45 percent of calls from women and 50.8 percent from men during the same period a year earlier.
  • Not only did the advertising increase the number of calls to the hotline, but also the advertising resulted in nearly a 48 percent increase in testing at the height of the campaign.

Through carefully crafted integrated media approaches, GMMB helped move our target audience – and others -- to action. We are confident that this trend will continue as the campaign enters into its second phase demonstrating that media can create change and even save lives. 

AWARDS

  • This campaign has won the Gold Award from the National Public Health Information Coalition for an outstanding outsourced public health campaign. We were in competition with the rest of the nation's public health departments