California Department of Public Health

Use New Media and Digital Communications to Reduce Smoking

Challenge:

Engaging Californians with Our Message

California’s anti-smoking campaign is known for its effectiveness and positive impact on reducing the health burden associated with tobacco use. California has the second lowest smoking rate in the United States (behind Utah) and serves as a model for other states and the rest of the world.

Despite these successes, the remaining smokers are difficult to reach with traditional health messages and approaches because research shows they are more likely to dismiss mainstream media as a source of information. The communication objective was to increase digital communications to connect and engage Californians.

Key Strategies:

Online Video Contest

• Created the Be A Reel Hero online video contest to generate conversation, education, and participation with the “Hollywood” creative community and the general public, as well as to increase the video assets of the client for use on all potential digital platforms.
• Contest allowed users to generate content that may become the state’s next anti-smoking commercial.
• Created micro-site BeAReelHero.com to promote contest and highlight entries.
• Utilized digital communication and emerging social media platforms to connect California to the anti-tobacco campaign, becoming the first ever contest of its kind for the anti-tobacco program.
• Promoted Be A Reel Hero through strategic online marketing efforts such as building a MySpace page, a YouTube video, targeted Facebook ads, Craigslist posts, and outreach to film, advertising, technology, and video contest blogs, as well as direct marketing to California film schools.
• Asked Californians to vote for their favorite entry.

Results:

It’s a Hit!

• Nineteen of the entries were chosen as finalists and were featured on the Web site.
• During a three week public voting period, BeAReelHero.com had more than 40,000 video views and more than 10,000 online votes cast. The average stay on the Web site was more than 5 minutes.
• February 2008 hits to the Web site increased 631 percent from February 2007.
• February 2008 page views to the Web site increased 495 percent from February 2007.
• The winner of the contest was announced at a press conference on May 6, 2008 at the state capitol, where Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, named the winner and announced that the winner’s commercial would air that night during an episode of American Idol in both Los Angeles and Sacramento. The top five finalists were brought to the state capitol for the press conference and were given the opportunity to meet Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.