Company: Legacy, Washington, DC
Company Description: Legacy helps people live longer, healthier lives by building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Legacy’s proven-effective and nationally recognized public education programs include truth®, the national youth smoking prevention campaign; EX®, a smoking cessation campaign; and research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Public Service

Nomination Title: truth® Orange Summer Tour 2011

Tell the story about this nominated campaign since January 1 2011 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Legacy’s truth® campaign is the nation’s largest youth smoking prevention campaign and the only campaign not directed by the tobacco industry. The focus of the campaign is to save lives by reducing the number of young adults who begin smoking. The truth Orange Summer Tour is the campaign’s most established, far-reaching grassroots event. The tour features “truth trucks” that attend popular summer musical and sporting events, accompanied by “tour riders” that conduct outreach about tobacco use. The tour reaches more than 500,000 teens each summer, allowing teens to experience the campaign up close.

The media relations team faced several obstacles. The tour is a daily traveling experience, reaching more than 50 different cities. Successful outreach requires advanced planning; daily pitching; and close coordination with field staff to handle logistics and address potential crisis issues. From an editorial perspective, the dangers of tobacco use are well-documented, and there is difficulty keeping the subject top-of-mind due to ‘issue fatigue’ and increased awareness of other health issues. Reduced media staff and resources also limit coverage opportunities. 2011 marked the truth Orange Summer Tour’s twelfth season. Fresh pitch angles and ideas were needed to extend interest.

Moreover, outreach funds are limited; the amount the tobacco industry spends daily on marketing exceeds the annual truth marketing and communications advertising budget.

Innovations the team employed to overcome these obstacles included:

• Maximizing educational opportunities by having a presence in as many teen-related venues and channels as possible: on branded Web sites and social networking sites; at popular music and sporting events; and through limited, but targeted outreach initiatives.
• Replicating the tour experience by bringing the truth truck and zone directly to media outlets.
• Highlighting the “feel-good” aspect of the work of “tour riders” – focusing on how this energetic, committed group of young people makes a positive difference.
• Stretching the budget by engaging in communications tactics that have potential for cross-promotion and that reinforce messages being sent virally throughout the teen population
• Reinforce traditional media tactics with social media outreach

The success of the campaign is evident in its outcomes. A growing body of research continues to prove the efficacy of the campaign in changing teens’ attitudes, behaviors and beliefs towards tobacco – including peer-reviewed studies in the American Journal of Public Health and the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The summer tour outreach garnered more than 36 million media impressions, including morning shows in Indianapolis, Dallas, and Sacramento; print/online coverage from the Associated Press, MediaPost, Omaha-World Herald, and Patch.com; radio interviews in markets including Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles. The team secured national coverage on the national public television program BizKid$ and in the March 2011 CNBC special “Cigarette Wars”. The campaign reached more than 500,000 teens, distributed more than 30,000 pieces of educational truth “gear”, and added more than 40,000 e-mails to its database. The team also helped conduct an August 2011 event on Capitol Hill reaching out to members of Congress and Congressional staff.

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Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this campaign:

Senior Vice President of Communications Julia Cartwright spearheads Legacy’s award-winning team of seasoned communications professionals, devoted to raising public awareness about tobacco. Efforts include innovative youth tobacco prevention education campaigns and smoking cessation promotions. Assistant Vice President of Communications Patricia McLaughlin directs public relations efforts and organizational branding around a number of Legacy’s national and regional programs and public education efforts. She manages media and public relations opportunities around the truth® youth smoking prevention campaign, including promotion of the national grassroots tour, handling spokesperson duties and speaking opportunities, conducting media relations, and promoting research results and partnerships.