Innovative 'Social Norms' Campaign Targets Fla. Students August 16, 2006
Communities in Action The Broward County Commission on Substance Abuse has partnered with Broward County Schools to target students at Everglades High School in South Broward, Florida, with a "social norms" campaign, the Sun-Sentinel reported on August 7.
Initially, the campaign collected data on the drinking habits of teens and discovered that four out of five kids claim that they do not usually drink when hanging out with friends but that they see their friends drinking. Based on this information, Ambit Marketing, the company that ran the campaign, titled it "Four out of Five."
In its first phase, Ambit created t-shirts, posters, bracelets, pencils, Post-Its, mugs, and automated calls to students in multiple languages. Now in its second year, the campaign hopes to gain strength with billboards, signs, and newspaper ads and the participation of local businesses.
The approach of this campaign is an innovative one. "Traditional campaigns were created to scare them," said Kathy Koch, president of Ambit Marketing. "Social norms campaigns are designed to tell them the reality of what with their friends are doing, and work with the kids to believe and adopt this healthy behavior through the years."