Posted June 20th, 2009 by fjohnmar
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PrintIn 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.
Primary Communications Discipline:
Organizations Involved:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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