Integration of new media and community partnerships to redesign a national anti-drug campaign

In 2010 the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy relaunched its Above the Influence (ATI) media campaign after an eight month hiatus. The campaign was redesigned to include a new two-tiered messaging delivery strategy, moving from a strictly nationally focused advertising campaign to one that combines a national advertising foundation with additional youth-targeted and customizable efforts at the local community level. This presentation will show how the communications evolved to be more in sync with teen communications channels and became more relevant and motivating. The presentation will also show the importance of partnering with local youth-serving organizations and how these partnerships enhanced teen participation in the campaign, both online and in local communities. The establishment of an ATI webpage (which has grown to more than 130,000 fans) and other social networking applications has resulted in enhancing teens' engagement with the campaign. This engagement, as measured in campaign research, has increased protective attitudes toward drug use and decreased reported drug use intentions among targeted youth.