PR Campaign Conceptualization

 

We are PR practitioners for the American Lung Association, and our campaign is designed to stop the prevalence of e-cigarette usage on college campuses.

 

RESEARCH

Our research will include the statistics of students enrolled in undergraduate education in the US who admit to smoking e-cigarettes. It will also include some of the irreversible effects that smoking has on people at different stages of life. Additionally, we would look at smoking trends over the years, research past campaigns, and understand which approaches were effective and which were not.

SITUATION ANALYSIS

The campaign is needed because young adults smoking has become increasingly popular, with the Food and Drug Administration going so far as to say it was reaching “an epidemic proportion.” Whether these individuals do it for social reasons or for experimentation, many are still getting addicted and spreading secondhand smoke. A strength of our relation to our public/s is how established the ALA has become with over 100,000 people involved in its public awareness and fundraising initiative LUNG FORCE. A weakness that arises is that a method of deterrence is harder than a method of adoption. In other words, it is more difficult for an organization such as ours to essentially rip a habit away from a large group of people than it would be to provide one. Our greatest opportunity through this campaign is the degree to which we can contain and hopefully eradicate the e-cig epidemic. A threat that arises is the reception and possible retaliation from highly successful e-cig companies.

OBJECTIVES

To lower the use of e-cigarettes among college students by 15% in four months.

To lower the use of e-cigarettes among college students by 40% in eight months.

AUDIENCE

Our audience is college students in the city of Boston, particularly men and women ages 17-23. Most of these individuals do not have a full-time job and instead are full time students. Many come from families of high socioeconomic status. They all share the same education level, have received a high school diploma and are working toward a higher degree. The majority of these individuals are more susceptible to peer pressure than those in the age groups older than them, and are taking advantage of newfound freedom that they did not have when they were at home. Social acceptance is an innate desire in most of these students so, in an effort to fit in, they will mimic what they observe their peers doing. These individuals live either on-campus or near campus, so they are constantly surrounded by their peers and college students from other areas of Boston.  

STRATEGY

We will partner with the Health and Wellness Centers on college campuses around Boston to present advertisements in and around academic and residential buildings. These advertisements will contain some of our researched statistics and impacts of smoking in well-designed graphics.

 

This campaign will present an outcome of bad health that will force college-aged smokers to confront the reality of their habits and make changes for their own future and health.

 

SLOGAN

Don’t let your future go up in smoke.
 

TACTICS

Unrelated to media:

• Creation of website with information regarding e-cigarette usage

• Programming with experts conducted through Health and Wellness Centers

• Posters/advertisements aimed at students on campus (like those outside of Warren Towers, on BU buses)

• Distribution of materials with information and link to website at popular spots on campus (like the GSU Link)

Related to media:

• Create press kits to send to Boston based publications

• Include student run publications for a better chance to directly reach college students
  
   

CALENDAR

The campaign will begin with the fall semester because that is often when college students are meeting new people and attempting to “fit in” the most.

• June: conduct initial survey

• July-August: meet with Health and Wellness Centers, design posters and other materials

• Early September: post advertisements around campuses, send out press kits

• Mid-late September: distribute materials at popular campus locations

• October-December: have a series of talks with healthcare professionals at several Boston universities

• December: conduct four-month check-in survey

• January-April: repeat talk series and distribution of materials

• May: conduct eight-month check-in survey

 

BUDGET

Out of pocket budget: creation of website can vary between 300-1,000 dollars depending on customization. The cost varies depending on how much work you want to be done to the site. This includes moving logo, header image, creating a fixed navigation bar, changing the overall design, etc. This will all change the pricing, depending on what the website needs.

Programming costs between 20-99 dollars this depends on the experience the programmer has in his/hers field.

Posters and advertisements: For example, advertisements on the BU buses are calculated as seen below.  

 

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Note: Above prices include printing and shipping to the BUS terminal. Installation is free of charge.

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Distribution of materials with information and link to website at popular spots on campus: The cost of making pamphlets/informational brochures. We would need around five cases, or 25,000 pieces of paper. It would cost 284.95 for five cases of Office Depot Brand Copy & Print Paper at $56.99 per case.  

The cost of ink to print: One gallons HP ink costs $3,482 dollars.

 

EVALUATION

At the start of our research before the campaign was implemented, we will have taken a survey of university students and gathered the percentage that used e-cigarettes. We will conduct a follow up survey at the four and eight month marks of our campaign and compare the two numbers to find the difference in percentage. These responses will be captured through the website we created, and will be sent out to the student bodies of Boston based institutions through the universities themselves.