The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #66381

Mary Kassler, MBA¹, Cheryl Fogerty, MS¹, Dawn Baxter, MBA², and Shannon Sansonetti, MA². (1) WIC, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108, (2) Policy Studies Inc., 675 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139

Large-scale social marketing campaigns can create behavior change in target audiences. When supplemented with customized tools for specific markets, behavior change can be sustained over the long term. To increase enrollment and retention in the WIC program, the Massachusetts WIC Program, working closely with Policy Studies Inc., embarked on a statewide social marketing campaign. Because the WIC campaign targets diverse groups in a range of settings across the state, the statewide campaign will be supplemented with materials adapted for specific audiences.

Focus group research with current participants, eligibles, men, referral sources and human resource professionals raised a number of important issues: 1) Despite a moderate amount of stigma associated with being on WIC, the majority of audiences had highly positive perceptions of WIC; 2) There was general agreement about WIC’s “image” and benefits to women, children, families and communities; and 3) Specific markets would benefit from tailored approaches to recruit and retain WIC participants, including targeted employer outreach and individual clinic support. This presentation will cover key challenges and solutions for developing customized campaign approaches for target audiences and discuss how a statewide campaign can be enhanced with specialized tools.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key findings from focus group research and message development for a range of target audiences.
• Articulate the benefits of supplementing statewide social marketing efforts with customized campaign approaches.
• Discover vehicles to find customized campaign approaches that work.

Keywords: Social Marketing, Health Communications

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Policy Studies Inc. Massachusetts Department of Public Health
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.