Advertising: Antidrug Campaign, Lacking Federal Funds, Turns to Social Media

Antidrug Campaign, Lacking Federal Funds, Turns to Social Media

A MULTIMEDIA campaign that was deemed effective in fighting drug and alcohol abuse among American teenagers is seeking a second act after the federal government ended its financing.

A previous Above the Influence ad. The campaign is shifting its focus to thriftier digital media, and away from print and TV.

The campaign, known as Above the Influence, was introduced in November 2005 by the Partnership at Drugfree.org, formerly the Partnership for a Drug-Free America; Foote, Cone & Belding, now the Draftfcb division of the Interpublic Group of Companies; and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Unlike many public service campaigns, which gain significant exposure only if media companies agree to donate substantial amounts of commercial time and advertising space, Above the Influence was guaranteed considerable placements because the drug control office spent $540 million of federal money, appropriated by Congress, to run the campaign; the money was amplified by matching donations from the private sector.

Congress reduced the annual appropriated amounts several times; they fell from a high of $120 million in 2005 to a low of $45 million in 2010 and 2011 before hitting zero last year. Executives of the Partnership at Drugfree.org have decided to try keeping the campaign going, taking steps like soliciting corporate sponsorships and shifting to lower-cost platforms â€" among them digital and social media â€" from pricier previous efforts that included television commercials.

“We have this incredible brand that was about to go fallow,” said Steve Pasierb, president and chief executive of the Partnership at Drugfree.org in New York. “We’re going to step in and make certain it survives.”

The Partnership will oversee the Above the Influence ads aimed at teenagers at the same time it continues its primary mission: commissioning public service campaigns to help adults, particularly parents, prevent children from abusing alcohol or drugs.

What makes it worthwhile to maintain Above the Influence, Mr. Pasierb said, is the campaign’s approach, which he contrasted with antidrug initiatives that tell teenagers to “be a good kid” or hold them “to things that are unattainable.”

“The original strategy was always about being true to yourself,” Mr. Pasierb said, summarizing the core message as “‘Anything that makes me less than me is not for me.’”

For instance, to reach teenagers who care “about skateboarding more than school,” he added, the ads would describe how “drugs get in the way of skateboarding.”

One well-known ad in the campaign, a commercial titled “Little Brother,” showed a teenage boy helping his younger brother practice fending off schoolyard entreaties to get high. “Big brothers who live above the influence have little brothers who live above the influence,” an announcer declared at the end of the spot.

The campaign “turned out to be very successful,” said Allen Rosenshine, vice chairman and executive director of the Partnership at Drugfree.org, who was a longtime senior executive at the BBDO Worldwide agency owned by the Omnicom Group.

The campaign won honors that included an Effie award for effectiveness, and research among teenagers showed that Above the Influence “has high awareness,” Mr. Rosenshine said, “and they understand the message.”

“Saying ‘Don’t do drugs because they’re bad for you’ became ineffective because their sense of mortality is nil,” he added. “It’s more insightful and in tune with the target audience to say: ‘Drugs rob you of yourself. You can be better than that. You have things you want to do and don’t let drugs get in your way.’ ”

After Foote, Cone & Belding created the campaign, other agencies also produced ads, among them Atmosphere Proximity, Campbell Mithun, GSD&M, McGarryBowen, McKinney, Team One, Vigilante and Wieden & Kennedy. All that work has reflected the original idea on which the campaign was based.

“If you say ‘Just say no to drugs,’ it’s a one-sided conversation that’s almost always tuned out,” said Keith Ross, a creative director at Atmosphere Proximity who described himself as “part of the original pitch team at F.C.B. that came up with the campaign idea: ‘Maybe it’s not about the drugs. Maybe it’s about the influence that leads you to feel you need to take them.’ ”

Although the shift to thriftier venues like digital and social media makes a virtue out of necessity, Mr. Ross acknowledged, it “may be a good thing” because the campaign can increase its visibility on platforms with more appeal to teenagers than traditional media. They include Tumblr, Instagram and Facebook, where Above the Influence has almost 1.87 million “likes.”

Another example of the new campaign approach is a digital initiative created by Mr. Ross and Atmosphere Proximity, which is part of BBDO Worldwide, that is centered on a contest, Made by Me. Teenagers get a chance to submit ideas for the next Above the Influence commercial.

The winner is to be announced on Aug. 16 after a public vote. The grand prize includes a trip to New York to participate in the production of the commercial and a trip to Washington to take part in a national Above the Influence Day, on Oct. 17.

As for the search for corporate sponsorships, “we’re going to have to choose carefully,” Mr. Pasierb said, “to match our demographic and our agenda.” He offered as examples marketers in telecommunications, entertainment, insurance and sports.

Mr. Ross agreed that sponsorships can be “tricky,” adding: “We have to find the type of brands that fit with our messaging in an integral way. The most important thing is for the teens who are following us to believe we’re not selling them out â€" and we won’t.”