Hi all, Have you heard of Rescue Agency? They are an American company that helps governments and non-profits create award-winning health-related behavior change campaigns. One of their campaigns is called Fresh Empire. It is a federal smoking cessation campaign that focuses on the nearly 5 million African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and Pacific Islander youth aged 12-17 who are either open to smoking or have already experimented with cigarettes. Partnering with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they started with research and found that teens who identify with the so-called Hip Hop peer crowd were more likely to smoke compared to other peer groups. Within the Hip Hop peer group, smoking was intricately connected to social norms. Smoking was considered commonplace at parties, and Hip Hop influencers were known to use tobacco. One of the key social and cultural values of this group was a desire to appear ‘fresh’: fashionable, powerful, confident, and trendsetting. So the challenge for the Fresh Empire campaign was to show Hip Hop teens that a tobacco-free life aligned with their values and that smoking could get in the way of their goals. One of the unique strategies applied by Rescue Agency in this case is called Social Branding, which is a behavior change framework that shifts social norms among target audiences by making associations between healthy behaviors and core audience values. The Fresh Empire campaign created culturally authentic messages for Hip Hop youth, dispelling the idea that smoking is inextricably connected to Hip Hop culture. How did they accomplish all of this? Through video and print ads, social media experiences, partnerships with well-known tobacco-free artists (such as Eminem), and by organizing tobacco-free Hip Hop events across the country.
For all of these efforts, Fresh Empire became a national sensation, with content showing up all over Hip Hop teens’ social media feeds, at events, and with influencers. They even managed to reach an incredible 92% brand awareness! Though it is not clear on Rescue Agency’s website what behaviors were shifted, there was a 436% increase in website visits that hosted health education content. That shows promise. For more information about the Fresh Empire campaign, click here. To learn more about Social Branding, click here.
For all of these efforts, Fresh Empire became a national sensation, with content showing up all over Hip Hop teens’ social media feeds, at events, and with influencers. They even managed to reach an incredible 92% brand awareness! Though it is not clear on Rescue Agency’s website what behaviors were shifted, there was a 436% increase in website visits that hosted health education content. That shows promise. For more information about the Fresh Empire campaign, click here. To learn more about Social Branding, click here.
