Communications Campaign for

De-marketing Drugs in Boston

 INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGN FOR DE-MARKETING DRUGS IN BOSTON

The medium for the communications campaign that I propose for de-marketing drugs in Boston is the use of
television commercials because of the following reasons: that my target segment (Boston youth population between 12-18
years) spend a lot of their time (almost a third of their weekly hours) on television viewing. So it would be an easy,
ubiquitous and best mass communication platform. Radio and newspaper really do not work because there is no
conclusive data within the research material about their usage or about their popularity among the target population.

However, a small budget would also be allocated to print advertising because the people that do matter (the bread
winners in the family) must be definitely spending some amount of time daily in the morning on their perusal, so it would
be a good way to reach them too. This would make my communications campaign a holistic one with a 360 degree
coverage of the Boston population.

I am not proposing door-to-door advertising simply because of the prohibitive costs involved as also the large size
of the population. The advertising campaign that the Harvard MBA students devised is tactically superior and I would
endorse their ideation and support usage of two of their advertising campaigns. Based on the focus group discussions a
few important insights had emerged:

1) Family mattered a lot to the respondents

2) Realism in advertising was critical
3) That the advertising should make them pause and think

My advertising campaign would use the “Basketball” story board and “The Grave” story board developed by the
Harvard students. Both these advertisements would be effective because they are highly realistic and contextual and my
target population would be able to relate to and identify themselves with these advertisements very easily. Also the
concept of giving the pause to a linear story telling would be adopted because it enforces a critical point: that the youth
has to think before he makes the leap (i.e. makes the commitment to drugs). Indeed the advertisements suggest a very
clever way of avoiding drugs.

Introduction to drugs among the target population was due to peer pressure and due to the wide availability of
the drugs. Also the wide perception of taking drugs to become “cool” was a strong initiator to take drugs. Since other
psychographic studies and researches have concluded that both men and women feel most insecure during their teens,
therefore basically my target segment can be safely assumed to be having insecure feelings about themselves and their
role in life. Since this insecurity breeds the need to find acceptance among some form of social community therefore,
even if it means that one has to take drugs to become acceptable to a friend circle, the concerned youth takes the
plunge.

Here the respective advertisement “Basketball” suggests a way out of this problem. One must not say no directly
when offered drugs by friends and acquaintances because that might sour the relations but one can say no indirectly by
having a good excuse as a back-up (in this case the excuse was that the youth had a basketball game the next day,
therefore he could not join his friends). Thus one can also save the status quo as a member of a friend circle and be
independent of drugs. Ultimately the important thrust is one the fact that society or societal considerations should not
be the most important factor when it comes to taking drugs. Since drugs affect you personally, it is your life that is at
risk and therefore it is you who should make the safe and wise decision.

Also the mental acceptance of taking drugs socially is broken by the Grave advertisement. It is a myth to believe
that one can keep on taking drugs socially (and social occasions are there almost every day, example - meeting friends,
birthday party, etc.) and not be a drug addict. The fallacy that one can wean themselves away from drugs after a period
of time is not factually supported, therefore the concerned target segment should be warned that social drug taking can
have fatal consequences.

I would also advocate the use of society outreach programmes. Programmes such as social service, tree planting,
games and events for the underprivileged, etc. can be co-ordinated by the city mayoral council and the target
population should be made a part of these initiatives so that they are kept busy. This is based on one of the insights that
had emerged from the focus group discussions that the youth feel bored and do not know how to utilise their time. So
since now they will be kept busy they will not get the free time to do drugs. Also these kinds of community outreach
programmes will enhance their self confidence and make them feel good about themselves.