The VERB Campaign

In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the VERB Campaign, a national campaign
designed to decrease obesity in children age 9-13 years old. Via a combination of paid advertising,
community-based education and other techniques, CDC and its partners worked to encourage "tweens" to engage in more physical activity.

According to the CDC, VERB's objectives were to:

Increase knowledge and improve attitudes and beliefs about tweens’ regular participation in physical activity.
Increase parental and influencer support and encouragement of tweens’ participation in physical activity.
Heighten awareness of options and opportunities for tween participation in physical activity.
Facilitate opportunities for tweens to participate in regular physical activity.
Increase and maintain the number of tweens who regularly participate in physical activity.

Key Activities:

VERB had many elements, including:

Multicultural marketing
Digital marketing
Social media communications (blogs, social networks)
Community-based events that encouraged particpants to engage in more physical activity

Results:

VERB is regarded as a very successful social marketing campaign. It was systematically measured by evaluation experts and social marketers. For example, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, two-years post-VERB exposure tweens in a number of communities "reported higher awareness and understanding of VERB, greater self-efficacy, more sessions of free-time physical activity per week, and were more active on the day before being surveyed."

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine dedicated a special issue to the VERB campaign focusing on the campaign design and how it was evaluated.

Industry:

Healthcare

Primary Communications Discipline:

Social Marketing

Organizations Involved:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Campaign Dates:

2002 - 2006

For More Information:

Did Augmenting the VERB™ Campaign Advertising in Select Communities Have an Effect on Awareness, Attitudes, and Physical Activity?, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, June 2008 (Supplement), http://www.ajpm-online.net/article/S0749-3797%2808%2900252-3/abstract
It’s What You Do! Reﬂections on the VERB™ Campaign, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, March 2008, http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0749-3797/PIIS074937970800250X.pdf
The VERB Campaign, American Fitness, May - June 2003, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0675/is_3_21/ai_112982382
New Media and the VERB™ Campaign: Tools To Motivate Tweens To Be Physically Active, Cases in Public Health Communication and Marketing, August 2008, http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/departments/pch/phcm/casesjournal/volume2/invited/cases_2_08.cfm
CDC's Verb Campaign to Get Kids Active Drops the Ball on Engaging Teachers and Parents, Getting Attention, September 11, 2006, http://www.gettingattention.org/my_weblog/2006/09/dropping_the_ba.html

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