Nine Circles Community Health Centre

Communications and Marketing Plan Sexual Health Awareness Week

Hayley Brigg A.J. Lezak Amie Seier

Executive Summary

We have developed an effective marketing strategy that will help create awareness for Nine Circles Community Health centre, and their annual Sexual Health Awareness Week.

The spread of AIDS/HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections has become a near epidemic in Manitoba, with infection rates at, or nearing, the levels they were in the 1980s. Because of existing stereotypes of these diseases, many Manitobans feel they fall outside the at-risk demographic, and therefore arent taking enough responsibility for their own sexual health. Our marketing plan tackles these issues head-on, and is aimed at encouraging social change in Manitoba. Our key focus is that we want young adults to think twice about their current sexual health practices. We want them to think of getting tested for AIDS/HIV or other STIs, and buying condoms, as not something thats embarrassing, but a necessity - almost as routine as brushing your teeth.

The campaign we have created is designed around the idea of comparing not using condoms, or getting tested regularly for STIs, to something as weird as not maintaining your vehicle, failing to wear the proper equipment while playing sports, or forgetting to put a jacket on during the middle of winter. With our slogan, Dont take a risk. Wear a condom, and Dont take a risk. Get tested, we are proposing the use of radio, viral video, social media, and traditional print and environmental advertisements to get our key messages across.

Problem Statement

Winnipeg and Manitoba have recently had a high number of cases of HIV/AIDS and other STI infections, but many people are failing to see their healthcare provider to seek treatment, or take preventative measures for these issues. Nine Circles Community Health Centre is the primary HIV/AIDS care centre in the province, and is looking for help to market their messages to at-risk audiences about the importance of sexual responsibility, and why people who are sexually active should get tested for STIs on a regular basis. Currently, the clinic states that they are only testing approximately six per cent of the population that is at-risk for contracting these diseases, which they say is linked to social prejudices, inconvenience, and lack of access to important information.

Situation Analysis
COMPANY AND SERVICES Nine Circles Community Health Centre, is a community based, not-for-profit health clinic that specializes in HIV and STI prevention and care. It offers a range of clinical programs that include education, prevention, health, and support services for HIV and other STIs. Nine Circles promotes healthy lifestyles through education and prevention programs. The Clinic offers training recourses and workshops, and takes part in city-wide events, HIV conferences and Sexual Health Awareness Week. Nine Circles clinical programs provide patients with access to a range of health professionals that includes, physicians, primary care nurses, mental health therapists, pharmacists, dieticians, and support staff. Nine Circles views their services as something that incorporates all aspects of health, not just the clinical side. They describe their vision as holistic, and incorporate culture and personal services in addition to clinical services to meet the needs of clients. COMMUNICATIONS SITUATION Some of the communications strategies that Nine Circles currently uses include social media, Facebook and Twitter. Nine Circles also has a website that comprehensive, includes a lot of information, and is easy to navigate. They also have informational posters and some mainstream media coverage, however Nine Circles has had difficulty getting that coverage - likely because of the uncomfortable nature of the topics Nine Circles addresses. Nine Circles organizes and participates in different visible events which include, the AIDS walk, Winnipeg Pride, and their annual condom blitz, which has been very successful in previous years. MARKET BEHAVIOR EVALUATION Nine Circles says they are currently only testing approximately five per cent of Manitobans for AIDS/HIV, but should be testing upwards of 60 per cent. Many patients wait until they start experiencing symptoms to see a doctor, but are often misdiagnosed several times before having an actual AIDS/HIV test conducted. Clients are often ignorant as to how they can contract AIDS/HIV, and are not comfortable talking it with healthcare providers. Patients often dont take responsibility for their own sexual health. A stigma still exists as to who is contracting AIDS/HIV. Patients who do not fall inside this stereotypical demographic of those who are perceived to be at risk for contracting AIDS/HIV do not feel compelled to get tested. COMPETITIVE SITUATION ANALYSIS Other Winnipeg events that may take potential media attention away from Nine Circles communications initiatives are: the New Music Festival, Festival du Voyager, spring break and reading week activities, Mardi gras, the Winnipeg Scottish Festival, and Valentines Day.

SWOT
STRENGTHS Community based clinic that offers a variety of programs, not just clinical treatment Not-for-profit organization and is not in competition for a specific market or customer base Open to anyone - doesnt focus on a specific group or demographic Located in downtown Winnipeg Central location is easy for patients to access Dedicated staff members Offers services to different locations in Manitoba, not just Winnipeg

WEAKNESSES

OPPORTUNITIES

Only one full-service location, which could make it difficult to reach patients in need of the clinics services that live in communities outside of Winnipeg Small staff size Limited budget - relies on grants and fundraisers Only specializes in the treatment of AIDS/HIV, does not provide care for other illnesses or maladies Located in a small building, cannot handle a large volume of visitors at one time Non-for-profit status provides opportunities for outside funding and grants HIV/AIDS and STIs are something that affects all Manitobans

THREATS

Nine Circles deals with illnesses that still face a great deal of negative stigma with the public People feel uncomfortable walking into an AIDS/HIV and STI clinic Very few people actually do get tested Many of these peope dont consider themselves at-risk Statistics on the rate of infection of AIDS/HIV in Manitoba are not as accurate as they could be, making it difficult to tell how much of a problem it actually is

Target audiences
PRIMARY AUDIENCE With our communications strategy we intend on targeting Winnipeggers between the ages of 18 and 30. The reason why we decided to target such a young audience is because we wanted to make sure that people were learning the importance of getting tested and using condoms at a younger age. We know that younger people are more impressionable and more likely to change their attitudes and beliefs then those a generation or two their senior. Right now this specific audience finds talking about sex taboo and they are not threatened by STIs and especially not AIDS. They believe that they are not at risk and think that getting tested is unnecessary if they have only had sex with one partner. Right now this particular audience isnt very comfortable talking about sexual health out in the open and maybe think that getting tested or buying condoms is embarrassing. Both males and females in this age group may not be aware that they have an STI after sleeping with different partners or have a long time partner and find that it is unnecessary. Additionally, alcohol can also play a big factor in risky sexual behavior in this demographic. This audience is unaware of the threat they are at if they are sexually active and often trust their partner and assume they are STI free. Also, many women may assume that STI tests are part of their regular pap test, while many young males do not book regular physicals each year. What needs to change with this group is that they need to start getting themselves tested for STIs on a regular basis. They need take initiative themselves to be responsibly for their sexual health, instead of relying on the word or actions of their partner. Their belief that sexual health is uncomfortable to talk about and practicing safe sex isnt that important needs to change as well. We need to change their beliefs in favor of using condoms and getting tested, as opposed to it being uncomfortable and something people avoid. The barriers that stand in the way of our goal in getting this audience to change their perception of societal norms. Many young adults may think that if anyone found out they were being tested, it would lead others to think of them in a negative way instead of positive, therefore people are less likely to get tested. Our campaign needs to change peoples negative perceptions about getting tested and using contraceptives. We need to let them know the benefits of getting tested, which is stopping the spread of STIs and HIV/AIDS. It also increases awareness and makes for a more open and accepting society. Less people will get sick and less people will be infected if more people get tested.

Some of these audiences characteristics is that they are most likely post secondary students that are going out to parties and clubs and are engaging in sexual activity. Most of them drink alcohol and enjoy socializing. They are most likely doing some sort of post secondary education or traveling around the world and having fun before they start their professional lives and begin to settle down. They spend their time studying for school, working at a part time job and going out or partying with their friends. They are often influenced by their peers and social media. New information becomes credible to them if

Target audiences cont.

they see or hear it from a source they trust, whether that be a everyone saying something on Twitter or Facebook or it could be something on the news. It all depends on the specific source they rely on for their day to day information. The most compelling source that would make them change their behavior is their peers and people that influence them on a day to day basis. That is why social media plays a huge role in how they get their information. SECONDARY AUDIENCE The other audience that would be affected by our campaign are adults between 40 and 50 who are either newly divorced and back on the dating market, or parents to our primary audience.

This audience is already more set in their beliefs so they are less likely to change their minds about getting tested as opposed to our primary audience. They are new to dating again, which something they may havent done for twenty years. They may assume that the people they are sleeping with are STI free, so they put a lot of trust in their partner. This audience frequents online dating sites often as their main way to meet new partners. They may go on many dates with different people before settling down with someone new. Because they never worried about getting tested for STIs or using condoms when they were married, those habits may now of transferred to their new relationships.

Our goal with this audience would be to have them realize that they still at risk for STIs. We would hope that through this realization they would be compelled to start getting checked on a regular basis. We want this audience to make STI screening a regular part of their life, although this may be difficult as most of this demographic is more set in their beliefs because of their age. The barriers that stop this audience from reaching our marketing goal is this audience belief that they wont be affected by STIs because of their age. They believe that only younger people are exposed to to sexually transmitted infections or HIV/AIDS. This belief that they arent young anymore and that most of their partners are STI free stops them from recognizing the importance of getting tested on a regular basis.

What would benefit them if they started getting tested on a regular basis is that it would stop the spreading of STIs and HIV/AIDS. More people would also be more aware of the risks of having unprotected sex and understand the consequences of doing so. Some of the characteristics of this audience is that they are more secure with their beliefs and less likely to change their mind on a decision they made. They are more likely to be stuck in their ways and have a hard time listening to reason especially if it is coming from someone younger than them. They may be newly divorced and looking for love again in their lives.

They are probably familiar will become more familiar with online dating sites, as this is where they would be looking for another partner. They are largely influenced by the media as thats where they get their

Target audiences cont.

daily information. What makes new information credible to them depends on the source. They are less likely to believe something they may have read on the internet and more likely to believe in something they see or hear through the media.

What would motivate them to change is if they learned something from a credible media source or something that was supported by credible factual information. What would motivate them to change is seeing change within their community, whether that be immediate or on a large scale, and that is usually caused by something in mainstream media. TERTIARY AUDIENCE Our tertiary audience are doctors and other healthcare practitioners from different clinics other than Nine Circles. The reason why this audience is a tertiary one is because they are the ones that will be directly related with our campaign. Also, they can start communicating with their patients and asking them if they are sexually active and reminding them that if they are, they should be tested on a regular basis. We need doctors and nurses to start encouraging their patients to change their beliefs on sexual health. We need them to communicate it in a way that will help people understand the consequences of not being tested and also let them know that they can be tested for free at most places. This audience know quite a bit about the risks of STIs and HIV/AIDS, but they may just be too busy to be able to communicate it with their patients. Most healthcare practitioners in Manitoba are very busy and will often only be able to deal with issues that their patients present them with. Therefore, most healthcare practitioners wont suggest anything if they dont see a problem with the patient first. They often dont encourage a specific behavior change unless they see it in direct relation to a current or ongoing problem or issue a patient may have.

What stops this audience from fully supporting our campaign is the fact that they could be too busy to suggest this to their clients. They may also feel like its unnecessary because it isnt something the patient has brought up when seeing the doctor or healthcare practitioner. What the benefits will be if they remind their patients to get tested regularly is that they will have less patients to care for with STIs and HIV/AIDS because it will help stop the spreading of those diseases. This audience is very busy and often times doesnt have time to see all their patients on a regular basis. They spend their time going from patient to patient without very much time for themselves. They have one of the busiest jobs in our province and also one that is high in demand. They are influenced by other doctors and healthcare professionals, along with pharmaceutical companies and university studies. What makes new information credible to them is if it is a research study that is published in a medical journal. It needs to be factual and properly sourced in order for a healthcare practitioner to find it credible. What would motivate them to change is if their patients began to ask them to change or if a medical journal suggested that they change the way they practice. Also pharmaceutical companies may influence how they practice because of new medication offered to patients.

Objectives

Through this integrated marketing-communications plan for Nine Circles we hope to meet the following objectives. We would like to see the rate of young people between the ages of 18 30 being tested for STI to increase to 10 per cent higher than it is currently, after the campaign. In order to gauge whether or not our audiences have been receiving our key messages, we would like to see: A minimum of 100 clicks on both our Facebook, and online Metro advertisements An increase of 50 unique visitors to the website each day Our long-term goal is to see an increase of 10 per cent in the amount of people who visit Nine Circles Community Health Centre for AIDS/HIV and STI testing by the clinics 2012 Sexual Health Awareness Week

Key messages
PRIMARY AUDIENCE Sex isnt embarrassing, so you shouldnt be embarrassed to talk about it

Based on our discussions with personnel from Nine Circles and market research, there still exists a stigma that AIDS/HIV and STIs only affect a certain demographic. Because of this, our audience might be reluctant to pay attention to the messages we are projecting because they feel it doesnt apply to them.

However, our plan is to deliver our message in such a way that our audience finds it humorous and edgy, and therefore will more inclined to pay attention to it. With our campaign, we want to create an open and positive dialogue within our audience about AIDS/HIV and other STIs. Your sexual health can affect others too, so take some responsibility. The change in attitude that we want to create within our primary audience is to not think of AIDS/HIV as a disease that does not affect them, and to decrease the negative stigma of this disease within this demographic.

Another change we want to make is the nonchalant attitude towards condom use. Through our campaign, we want people to see condom use as an absolute necessity and a precaution that its imperative that they take. We want to encourage people who are sexually active to make the effort to purchase condoms before engaging in sexual activity, or as their partner if they have one. We also want them to turn down sexual advances if there is no protection involved. We want our audience to be proactive in asking their current partner, or any new partners, about their sexual health (do they have any STIs?)

Getting tested for STIs should be just as routine for you as going to the dentist, or for a checkup.

We also want them to change their attitude towards getting tested for STIs. Currently, it seems this demographic only feels getting tested is necessary when there is a visible problem, rather than as a preventative measure. We also want to change the attitude that this is embarrassing, and create an increase in the amount of people who seek testing for AIDS/HIV and other STIs, as well as the frequency in which they do this.

Key messages cont.

SECONDARY AUDIENCE Through our campaign, we want to project the following key messages in order to educate our audience about Nine Circles and their Sexual Health Awareness Week.

We want to help erase the stigma that AIDS/HIV is only a disease that is contracted by the Homosexual community, and young people. The newest studies show that the demographic that is seeing the largest increase in contract AIDS/HIV is heterosexual males later in life. We want to enforce the message that people who are sexually active should take responsibility for their own sexual health, and are vigilant in making sure they use protection in every sexual encounter they have.

We want to create urgency for young adults to adopt getting tested for AIDS/HIV and other STIs as part of their regular medical routine.

Promotions mix & strategy

ADVERTISING STRATEGY Creative Strategy The idea behind our campaign is that we want people to think of getting tested and using condoms just like they think of brushing their teeth. Brushing your teeth is a normal part of our daily routine that we dont even think twice about it. Our slogan would be something along the lines of You wouldnt go on a date without brushing your teeth and have a corresponding close up shot with someone smiling with spinach in their teeth dressed all fancy then at the bottom of the ad we would have something like Then why would you have sex without a condom?

I think this message gets our idea across to our audience in a subtle way without saying you should think of condom use like you would think of brushing your teeth. Other ideas for advertisements could be an image of a hockey player getting it into the boards without a hockey helmet with the caption saying You wouldnt play hockey without a helmet following Then why wouldnt you get tested for STIs. The campaign would be called You Wouldnt because of the nature of our slogan. The imaging would be consistent so that audiences could see our message in different ways. It makes the advertising campaign more interesting is if they have a series of ads that all have a similar layout, theme and message but just alter it slightly so that audiences can identify it more than once. Choice of Media

Most of these ads will be designed for print based places but they can also ads that can be posted online via Nine Circles Website and social media. The reason why we would create these ads for print is that we can put them into University based publications. We can then transfer them and adapt them to for web based functions like banner ads on different websites, along with side bar ads. These ads will be able to go on the inside, outside and bus shacks. The reason behind putting the ads on a bus is that most people who ride public transportation are student on their way to University each day. These ads need to be displayed in different places around campus either in poster form on different billboards but also in bathroom stalls and different places ads are placed around campus. We will also be advertising at different clubs and bars throughout Winnipeg placing posters in bathroom stalls and different places within their venues.

Promotions mix & strategy cont.

PUBLICITY STRATEGY Tools and Tactics Because our audience is a frequent user of social media we thought we would put together a contest through Facebook. Contestants would be encouraged to post a picture of something embarrassing and write what you wouldnt do. After a month a winner will be selected as the best pictures and slogan and they will win a grand prize of $1000. The reason why this contest would be an effective way to reach our audience is that it allows our audience a way of interacting with our campaign as opposed to just absorbing the knowledge or ignoring it completely. We also want to draw in our audience to out website so that they can learn more about the benefits of getting tested and using condoms.

A caption on the ads at the bottom will say to visit Facebook so that if they participate in the contest they automatically have a chance to win $1000. That way we bring more people online to learn more about the importance of getting tested and using condoms.

The second component is that we will go around to different bars on a certain date and distribute condoms (condom blitz). On the condom packages we will put Nine Circles logo but more importantly we can put our Facebook icon and a short message that says they can win $1000. That way were drawing our audience back online where they have access to more information and Nine Circles itself.

Budget and timelines

Advertising budget Medium Location Print -University and post secondary student newspapers -The Metro -Uptown Web -Facebook side bar ads -Online Metro - 139 x 30 King posters -Energy 106 -Power 97 Time Period For one month before and during sexual awareness week Media Cost $6,500 Estimated creative $500

Bus

Radio

For three weeks before and during sexual awareness week For one month before and during sexual awareness week For three weeks before and during sexual awareness week

$4,000

$500

$13, 310 (non-profit $500 rate) $3,000 Included in media buy

Public relations budget Tool or Activity Location Facebook Contest Condom Blitz Online All the bars and nightclubs throughout Winnipeg

Time of event/activity/ info One month before and during sexual awareness week Evenings of sexual awareness

Cost to execute $500 cost to produce the design work for the advertisements - At minimum ten volunteers -Cost of condoms and placing the ads on condom packaging - $1000 -Gas cost for driving to different locations - $100

Total budget: $29,910

Evaluation

In order to measure the success of our marketing campaign and evaluate whether or not our audience received our key messages, were going to use several different tactics to assess the effectiveness of our strategy. MEDIA

We will be relying on traditional media as a primary way to gauge public opinion on our campaign. How many media hits did we get on our campaign, the local Sexual Health Awareness Week, and Nine Circles? What was the tone of these media hits? Did they see our messaging as positive, or negative? We were able to get across our key messages in each of our media hits? ONLINE AND SOCIAL MEDIA

STAKEHOLDERS

How many hits did we get? (shares on Facebook, likes, comments, re-tweets, followers on Twitter, etc.) What was the tone of the response to our messages on social media? How many hits did we get to our website? What was the response internally at Nine Circles, and from their supporters (board of directors, donors) to our campaign?

BENCHMARKING

MID-STREAM EVALUATION

After our campaign is complete, we would create and administer a survey within our target audience to determine: a) Whether or not they received our messages. Were they aware of our campaign? Where did they see/hear it? How many times? b) What was their response to our campaign? Did the messaging create a positive change in their behavior? In or to increase the effectiveness of our campaign, we will also conduct an evaluation of our marketing tactics mid-way through the length of the campaign. For this, we will look at the traffic between our online advertisements and our website, to see if our Facebook and online Metro click advertisements are driving unique visitors to our website. If these numbers are decreasing, or have reached a plateau, we will consider replacing them with fresh creative in order to peak more interest.

Creative example #1 - script for viral YouTube video

Audio YOU WOULDNT STAND OUTSIDE DURING A FRIGID MANITOBA WINTER WITHOUT A COAT ON..... Video Young woman inside, in front of a white background (in-studio)

WS (wide-shot) Young man standing outside in the winter, entire landscape surrounding him is covered with snow. The wind is blowing and its snowing. He doesnt have a jacket on, just a t-shirt and his arms are crossed over his chest and hes shivering. CU (close-up) of mans face. His teeth are chattering and his lips are slightly blue. WS of man standing, but people are passing by him, giving him strange looks as if hes mentally unstable.

SO WHY WOULD YOU HAVE SEX WITHOUT A Cut to woman inside studio. CONDOM ON? BESIDES ABSTINENCE, CONDOMS ARE THE #1 WAY TO PREVENT AGAINST THE SPREAD OF AIDS/HIV AND OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS NO ONE LIKES GETTING HYPOTHERMIA, JUST MS (medium shot) of young woman speaking. LIKE NO ONE LIKES GETTING A STI. DONT TAKE A RISK. WEAR A CONDOM. CU of young woman speaking. Nine Circles logo and Sexual Health Awareness Week dates appear after shes finished talking.