Background and Objectives

Men’s Preventive Health

Time Period: June – September 2010

Background and Objectives:

The Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality launched a series of PSAs on behalf of their Men’s Preventive Health campaign designed to encourage middle-age men to learn which potentially life-saving preventive medical tests they need to get and when they need to get them. In an effort to further the reach of the PSAs, begin a national dialogue among the target audience about the importance of preventive testing and encourage men to visit the campaign website, www.ahrq.gov/healthymen, the Ad Council developed and implemented a series of PR and social media strategies beginning in June 2010.

PR and Social Media Strategy:

The program kicked off in conjunction with the launch during Men’s Health Week (just prior to Father’s Day). In an effort to provide an additional news hook, AHRQ tied the announcement of new research into the launch, which stated that men are 24 percent less likely than women to have visited the doctor within the past year.

The Ad Council recruited Dr. Oz to serve as a lead spokesperson in an effort to leverage his credibility and reach in traditional media, as well as on social media channels. An exclusive story was pitched to Laura Landro for a feature in the Wall Street Journal’s “Personal Health” column. Dr. Oz was interviewed for the story, which also resulted in a blog post and video on WSJ.com. Good Morning America was also pitched and, as a result of the Wall Street Journal coverage, a segment about the campaign aired featuring ABC Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser. Additionally, Dr. Oz posted on a blog on The Huffington Post called “The Best Father’s Day Gift” and discussed the campaign on his website. A radio media tour, mat release and multimedia news release (which included a quote from Dr. Oz) helped further extend the reach of the campaign. Furthermore, a freelance media specialist was recruited to conduct additional outreach to broadcast, print and online media outlets frequented by middle-aged men and their families.

The social media program complemented and extended the launch activities and included blog/online news outreach to men’s sites and engaging families to reach out to their fathers as part of the campaign’s ongoing “Get Dad to the Doc” program. The program included a “Time to Get a Check-Up” e-card, outreach on the “Get Dad to the Doc” Facebook page and message development for the @AHRQNews and @DrOz Twitter handles.

Results:

Within one week of the launch, the news had been covered in both national and local television, print and online news stories throughout the country. Stories, blogs and segments in consumer, men’s and health/wellness media outlets included in-depth features that initiated a national dialogue about the importance of men’s health and preventive medical testing. The majority of the stories and segments praised the campaign and included links to the campaign website, www.ahrq.gov/healthymen, where men can find out more about how to stay healthy.

National placements in the Wall Street Journal and Good Morning America reached over 6 million people alone. The campaign was also discussed on GMA’s site. As a result of the initial coverage, the news was also picked up by syndicates (including UPI), Forbes.com, major dailies and advertising/media publications (i.e. Ad Age and PR Week). Nearly 80 posts on influential and relevant blogs discussed the campaign, reaching an additional 12.2 million people. The campaign reached high-profile sites including WSJ.com, ivillage.com, AOL, the L.A. Times and a number of consumer and “mommy” blogs. ivillage’s site reaches over 33 million people and their story included a direct call-to-action in the title—“For Father’s Day, Send Dad to the Doc.” Additionally, nearly 600 e-cards were distributed in just one week.

Furthermore, the Men’s Health mat release generated 420 stories, reaching more than 12.7 million people and the multimedia news release also generated over a million impressions. The radio tour included placements on American Urban Radio Network and FOX news, reaching over 4.2 million listeners.

The Facebook “Get Dad to the Doc” community nearly doubled and the community experienced a total of 1,540 views, and 70 interactions — the combination of likes, wall posts, and comments — during the program. Dr. Oz’s support of the campaign on his Facebook and Twitter channels extended the campaign’s reach to nearly 700,000 people. Additionally, more than 630 people on Facebook “liked” his post and over 130 people commented. A feature about the campaign, as well as a quiz, also appeared on which generally exceeds 100,000 daily site views and 1 million daily page views. Public relations and social media efforts significantly extended the reach and impact of the campaign during Men’s Health Week and in the weeks and months that followed.